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Set up a custom tracking domain

The Ultimate Guide to Setting Up Your Custom Tracking Domain (CTD) 🚀

Updated over 2 weeks ago

Learning objective

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll know how to set up and verify a custom tracking domain (CTD) in lemlist, so your tracking links use your own subdomain (e.g., trail.yourdomain.com) instead of a shared lemlist tracking domain.

Why this matters

A CTD helps you protect and control your sender reputation by separating your tracking reputation from other senders. It also improves trust and brand consistency because recipients see your domain in links, which can increase click engagement and support better deliverability over time.

Prerequisites

  • You have access to your domain’s DNS settings (or can ask your admin to add DNS records).

  • You have an email address connected in lemlist.

  • You have chosen a subdomain to use for tracking (common examples: trail, route, lemtrail).

Core lesson: step-by-step workflow

Phase 1: Open the CTD setup in lemlist

1) Open your lemlist Settings
Log in to lemlist, then click your name in the bottom-left corner and select Settings.

Screenshot

2) Go to Sending settings and open the Email section
In the left sidebar, click Sending settings, then expand the Email section.

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3) Open settings for the email you want to configure
In the "Sending email addresses" section, find the email address you want to use and click Settings on the right.

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4) Open the Custom tracking domain section, copy the DNS record details, and enter your tracking subdomain
In the email settings modal, expand Custom tracking domain and copy the DNS record details lemlist generates (you’ll add these records in your DNS in the next phase).

Screenshot

Phase 2: Create the required DNS records (CNAME + TXT)

5) Add the CNAME record at your DNS provider
Go to your DNS provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare) and add a new record using the values lemlist provides:

  • Type: CNAME

  • Name/Host: the subdomain/host lemlist shows (examples: trail, route, lemtrail)

  • Value/Points to: the destination lemlist shows (commonly custom.lemlist.com. — include the trailing dot if your DNS accepts it)

Cloudflare tip: Set the CNAME record to DNS only (not proxied) by clicking the orange cloud icon.

Important: You also need to create a TXT record for the CTD to work.

  • Type: TXT

  • Host/Name: @

  • Value: this value is generated in lemlist and is unique for each CTD. It is shown (and generated) once you create the CNAME and try to apply it in lemlist.

Phase 3: Verify and activate the domain in lemlist

6) Return to the lemlist after updating DNS
Go back to the email settings modal for the email address you’re configuring and open the Custom tracking domain section again.

Optional: Set a CTD at the team level
If you set a CTD under the team settings, it will apply to all teammates (instead of only one email address).

7) Check setup
Click Check setup. If lemlist prompts you with a TXT value, add that TXT record in your DNS (Host/Name @) and then come back and check the setup again. If lemlist can’t validate it yet, wait for DNS propagation and try again.

Phase 4: Confirm it works

8) Test the tracking domain in your browser
Copy and paste your CTD (e.g., trail.yourdomain.com) into a browser. If everything is configured correctly, you should see a confirmation message.

Practical application (recommended setup patterns)

  • One team, one sending domain: Configure the CTD at the team level so everyone uses the same tracking domain.

  • Multiple sending domains: Create separate subdomains per domain (e.g., trail.domainA.com and trail.domainB.com) and configure them accordingly.

  • User-level overrides team-level: If a user sets a CTD on their email address, it will override the team-level CTD for that user.

Note: You can’t reuse the same CTD across different teams for security reasons.

Troubleshooting & pitfalls

Issue: “Check setup” fails even though the CNAME is added
​Root cause: DNS propagation can take time, the record was added with an incorrect host/value, or the required TXT record hasn’t been created yet.
​Fix:

  • Wait and try again later (propagation can take up to 72 hours depending on DNS/provider settings).

  • Double-check the CNAME host/name and value/points to match exactly what lemlist displays.

  • Create the TXT record with Host/Name = @ and the Value generated by lemlist when you try to apply/check the CTD.

  • If you use Cloudflare, confirm the record is set to DNS only (not proxied).

Issue: Certificate/validation problems (CAA restrictions)
​Root cause: Your domain’s CAA records may block Let’s Encrypt (used for issuing certificates).
​Fix: Add/adjust CAA records to allow Let’s Encrypt, for example:

@     IN CAA issue "letsencrypt.org"
trail IN CAA issue "letsencrypt.org"

Issue: Click tracking doesn’t appear in reporting
​Root cause: The CTD is not validated, so tracking links cannot be reliably resolved through your domain.
​Fix: Complete CTD validation (including the required CNAME + TXT records) and re-check setup.

Knowledge check (optional)

  • Did you add the CNAME record using the exact host/value lemlist provided?

  • Did you add the required TXT record (Host/Name = @) with the unique value generated by lemlist when you tried to apply/check the CTD?

  • If you use Cloudflare, is the CNAME set to DNS only?

  • Do you want your CTD applied per user (email-level) or for everyone (team-level)?

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