Customers can choose to have a custom or vanity URL for the front-end of the Vuture platform.
 

Front-End Vanity URL

A front-end vanity URL is the URL visible to your email recipients when they click through to landing pages and forms. By default this is in the format of https://sites-yourorganisation.vuture.net but can be customised to your own domain or sub-domain.

 

Setting up a Vanity URL

• Vanity URLs can be setup when your Vuture instance is first set up or once you are up and running.
• The vanity URL must be a sub domain
  • We often see clients use formats similar to:
    • communications.yourorganisation.com
    • news.yourorganisation.com
• Once you have decided on a sub domain name, let us know and we will generate 2 required DNS records, which you should add into your internal DNS (if required) and public DNS.
  • One DNS record will point the domain to the Vuture web servers
  • One DNS record will validate the SSL certificate creation
    • We use AWS Certificate Manager to generate SSL certificates. If you use a CAA record to limit what providers can generate certificates, you must configure the record to allow AWS. Please reach out to us to if you need assistance with this.
• Once the DNS records are created, we can schedule the change to occur outside of working hours. Downtime of your landing pages should be less than 5 minutes.
• Please see your account manager for charges relating to vanity URLs

 

Benefit of Vanity URLs

Vanity URLs offer the following benefits over using an out of the box Vuture domain:

• Brand Integrity: A Vanity URL allows you to maintain your branding across all digital channels
• Trust: Your clients are more likely to engage and click through where they recognize the domain name
• Professionalism: A Vanity URL looks more professional than a generic Vuture sub-domain
• Easy to Remember: You can choose a memorable domain that closely matches your main website 
• Better for Sharing: A Vanity URL the is close to your main domain preferred when your content is shared on social media
• Better for SEO: If you link to your landing pages for SEO, then your brand URL will appear in search engine result

Vanity URL FAQs
 

1. If I already have an SSL certificate for a domain I own, can I use it?

It is not possible to import custom certificates into the Vuture platform. The only certificates supported are those generated and validated by AWS Certificate Manager.
 

2. I cannot access my new vanity URL from my internal network - what should I check?

Make sure you have updated the DNS for the new vanity URL i.e. pointed the CNAME record at the Vuture (AWS) address on your internal DNS as well as public DNS. Particularly if this is a subdomain of one of your existing domains where you may already have internal DNS records.
 

3. We do not want to add AWS to our CAA record

Unfortunately this is a requirement for using a vanity URL. Importing custom certificates it not a sustainable model for the scale of our platform.

We would advise reading documentation on the security of AWS ACM https://aws.amazon.com/certificate-manager, which will hopefully alleviate any concerns.

At a high level

• The certificates can only be generated for the single domain.
• The certificates cannot be exported from the AWS platform, it can only be used with AWS managed services e.g. aws load balancers, aws cloudfront.
• No one can access or export the private key.
• The certificate is only generated when the DNS verification check passes.
• The certificate and unique DNS records can only be used to generate a certificate in the Vuture AWS account. No-one else with an AWS account can create an SSL certficate for the domain with these records.
• The certificate can be rotated at any time, as long as the DNS record remains in place.
• We can revoke the SSL certificate at any time you request.
• Google has announced it is looking to move to a 90 day validity period, rather than the current 12 months. https://sectigo.com/resource-library/google-announces-intentions-to-limit-tls-certificates-to-90-days-why-automated-clm-is-crucial. This would be an impossible task for any company managing a high volume of SSL certificate.
• Automated methods of SSL generation have been an industry best practice for a very long time.
• The AWS ACM method of certificate generation is substantially more secure than passing around csr, private keys and pfx files.

 

2. Will setting up a Vanity URL possibly have a negative impact on deliverability - for example, is the risk of being backlisted increased?

No, Vanity URLs do not have an impact on deliverability.