Web Content CNAMEs are used to brand links to web content records (Forms, Surveys, Landing Pages, and Subscription Management Pages). Form, Survey, and Subscription Page submissions will be properly recorded in CRM even if there is not a web content CNAME set up, but without the Web Content CNAME, the page views for these records may not correctly associate with the lead or contact visiting your site since the domain of the web content URL is a different domain than the one used in the ClickDimensions tracking script on your website.
NOTE: When using Web Content CNAMEs, the Web Content URL will be HTTP rather than HTTPS. If you want your Web Content URL to be HTTPS, you will need to either setup an SSL certificate for your CNAME or use the default link format rather than a CNAME.
To use the default link, you can either associate a Domain record that does not include a Web Content CNAME value with the Web Content record, or you can manually modify the link. For example, http://web.mycompany.com/exampleformlink would be manually updated to https://analytics.clickdimensions.com/exampleformlink
WARNING: Proxied CNAME's are not supported by ClickDimensions. If you would like to use HTTPS with your CNAME, then please check out our SSL Certificates for Web Content article.
Goals
- Determine what your Web Content CNAME should point to
- Set up your Web Content CNAME in your DNS Host
- Add your Web Content CNAME to CRM
What should your Web Content CNAME point to?
In order for your links to work properly once a CNAME has been applied to them, the CNAME you set up in your DNS host will need to be configured to point to a specific value. This can vary depending on where your account is deployed (which data center was chosen during deploying the ClickDimensions solution), so you'll need to check to see what the default value is.
| US Data Center | analytics.clickdimensions.com |
| EU Data Center | analytics-eu.clickdimensions.com |
| AU Data Center | analytics-au.clickdimensions.com |
| CAN Data Center | analytics-ca.clickdimensions.com |
Caution: These values are NOT to be used as an endpoint for SSL certificates. For information on setting up an SSL certificate for your Web Content, please see our SSL Certificates for Web Content article.
Create your Web Content CNAME
- Dynamics 365
- Legacy View
Go to your hosting service's DNS manager and create a new CNAME entry to redirect the Web Content CNAME value you would like in your embedded content links (e.g. web.mycompany.com) to the appropriate value for your data center as listed in the previous table.
Here's an example of adding the CNAMEs for a domain whose DNS is hosted by GoDaddy:
Create your Domain Record
Unlike the Email CNAME, which is added to CRM under DNS Settings within ClickDimensions Settings, Web Content CNAMEs are added to the Domain record that you created for web tracking.
Wait 60 minutes and then go to the ClickDimensions settings in your Microsoft CRM settings area,
Go Settings & Support > Domains
Then insert the new CNAME into the Web Content CNAME field of the corresponding Domain Record.
NOTE: The Domain field should contain an actual domain name value, and should not have http:// or 'www' in it. It should just be a domain, like mycompany.com.
To be sure your Web Content CNAME is working, you can click the Test Alias button on the ribbon.
The 'Test Alias' button specifically checks to see if the Web Content CNAME points to one of the region-specific versions of the analytics.clickdimensions.com URL. Due to this, you will receive an 'Invalid CNAME' error when testing CNAMEs that point to the cd-analytics.azurefd.net URL but your Domain and CNAME should still work.
If everything looks good, you'll receive this message in return:
If you get an error Unable to connect, make sure the value you entered in the Web Content CNAME field actually resolves to analytics.clickdimensions.com (or analytics-eu.clickdimensions.com if you are using our EU data center, or analytics-au.clickdimensions.com if you are using our Australia data center). Click here to see how to use your computer's command prompt to check this.
Go to your hosting service's DNS manager and create a new CNAME entry to redirect the Web Content CNAME value you would like in your embedded content links (e.g. web.mycompany.com) to the appropriate value for your data center as listed in the previous table.
Here's an example of adding the CNAMEs for a domain whose DNS is hosted by GoDaddy:
Create your Domain Record (Dynamics 2011/2013/2015)
Unlike the Email CNAME, which is added to CRM under DNS Settings within ClickDimensions Settings, Web Content CNAMEs are added to the Domain record that you created for web tracking.
Wait 60 minutes and then go to the ClickDimensions settings in your Microsoft CRM settings area and insert the new CNAME into the Web Content CNAME field of the corresponding Domain Record.
NOTE: The Domain field should contain an actual domain name value, and should not have http:// or 'www' in it. It should just be a domain, like mycompany.com.
To be sure your Web Content CNAME is working, you can click the Test Alias button on the ribbon.
The 'Test Alias' button specifically checks to see if the Web Content CNAME points to one of the region-specific versions of the analytics.clickdimensions.com URL. Due to this, you will receive an 'Invalid CNAME' error when testing CNAMEs that point to the cd-analytics.azurefd.net URL but your Domain and CNAME should still work.
If everything looks good, you'll receive this message in return:
If you get an error Unable to connect, make sure the value you entered in the Web Content CNAME field actually resolves to analytics.clickdimensions.com (or analytics-eu.clickdimensions.com if you are using our EU data center, or analytics-au.clickdimensions.com if you are using our Australia data center). Click here to see how to use your computer's command prompt to check this.
NOTE: If you have an internal DNS server on your network, your network administrator will need to also create CNAME entries for your internal network if you want these links to work for your users. (The branded links are intended for recipients, but if you plan on testing links in emails and forms, you will need to be able to reach these addresses inside your network too.)
| Feature Added: Original |
| Feature Updated: 8.14 |
| ClickDimensions Version Needed: 8.14.0 |