How to Use Your Own Domain for a Client Upload Page

You send a client a link to upload their documents, and it opens on a domain they've never seen. Some clients upload anyway. Others forward the link back to you to ask if it's real, or never upload at all. A custom domain fixes this. Your upload page lives at an address like uploads.yourfirm.com, on the domain your clients already know from your emails and website.

It's what people mean by a white-label domain for a branded upload page or client portal. It takes one DNS record, called a CNAME, and a few minutes in your DNS provider's dashboard. The steps below cover GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, Squarespace and Microsoft 365, then how to check the record and connect it to your upload page.

Why a white-label domain matters for client uploads

Your clients have been told for years to check a link before they trust it. CISA's phishing guidance tells people to check a site's URL. It warns that fake sites may use a slightly different spelling or a different domain. That's good advice. It also works against you when your upload page sits on a vendor's domain your client has never heard of.

When the link reads uploads.yourfirm.com, it matches your email address and your website, so it still looks right when a client hovers over it to check where it goes. It's also easy to recognize weeks later, when the client digs the request out of their inbox and can't remember who sent it.

A domain makes a legitimate link look legitimate, and that's all it does. It doesn't make the page more secure. It doesn't replace HTTPS, a password on sensitive pages, or a heads-up to clients that a request is coming.

The domain is also only one part of white-labeling. The rest is your logo and colors on the page, emails sent from your own address, and no vendor branding. Whether you run a full client portal or a simple upload link, the domain is the part clients see first, before the page even loads.

Pick a subdomain, not your main domain

Put the upload page on a subdomain and leave your main domain (yourfirm.com) on your website. There are two reasons.

First, a CNAME record can't share its name with any other record. Cloudflare's DNS guide spells this out, and your root domain already has records for your website and email.

Second, many providers won't let you create a CNAME on the root at all. GoDaddy's Name field can't be @, and Squarespace doesn't allow @ for a CNAME. Namecheap warns that a CNAME on the bare domain can affect your email.

Good subdomain names are short and describe the job:

• uploads.yourfirm.com
• files.yourfirm.com
• documents.yourfirm.com
• portal.yourfirm.com, if your clients already call it "the portal"

Choose one you'll still like in two years. Clients will see it in every request you send.

Find out who manages your DNS

The company you bought the domain from isn't always the one that runs its DNS. If you moved your DNS to Cloudflare, or let Microsoft 365 manage it, the record goes there instead. To check, look up your nameservers from a terminal:

nslookup -type=NS yourfirm.com

The answer lists your nameservers. Their hostnames usually name the company that hosts your DNS. If that isn't obvious, ask whoever set up your website or email. Adding the record in the wrong place is a common reason a CNAME seems not to work.

How a CNAME record works

A CNAME record is an alias. It says: uploads.yourfirm.com is another name for this other hostname, so look that one up instead. The service you're connecting gives you the target hostname, and your DNS provider stores the alias.

Every CNAME has the same three parts, even when providers label them differently:

• Name: the subdomain label only, such as uploads. Most providers add your domain for you.
• Target: the hostname the service gives you. Always a hostname, never an IP address and never a full URL.
• TTL: how long other servers cache the record before checking again. The default usually works.

CNAME vs A record

An A record points a name at an IP address. A CNAME points a name at another hostname. Services ask for a CNAME so they can change their servers' IP addresses without you touching your DNS. Your record follows their hostname.

What each provider calls the fields

How to add a CNAME record at your DNS provider

In each set of steps, uploads is the subdomain and "the target hostname" is the value the service gave you. Swap in your own.

GoDaddy

1. Sign in and open your Domain Portfolio.
2. Select the domain to open its Domain Settings page.
3. Select DNS.
4. Select Add New Record, then choose CNAME from the Type menu.
5. In Name, enter uploads. Don't add your domain, and don't use @.
6. In Value, enter the target hostname.
7. Leave TTL at the default of 1 hour and select Save.

If the domain has GoDaddy's Domain Protection, you'll be asked to verify your identity with a 2-step code or a one-time password sent by email. GoDaddy says most DNS changes take effect within an hour but can take up to 48 hours to update everywhere.

Cloudflare

1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, open your domain and go to the DNS Records page.
2. Select Add record.
3. Set Type to CNAME.
4. In Name, enter uploads.
5. In Target, enter the target hostname.
6. Set Proxy status and TTL.
7. Select Save.

Cloudflare uses Proxy status to decide whether traffic to the hostname is proxied through Cloudflare. For this setting, follow the connecting service's setup guide.

Namecheap

1. Sign in and select Domain List in the left menu.
2. Click Manage next to your domain.
3. Open the Advanced DNS tab and click Add New Record in the Host Records section.
4. Choose CNAME Record as the Type.
5. In Host, enter uploads only. Namecheap adds your domain automatically, so typing the full uploads.yourfirm.com would duplicate it.
6. In Value, enter the target hostname. It has to be a fully qualified domain name.
7. Pick the lowest TTL available and click Save All Changes.

These steps work for domains on Namecheap BasicDNS, PremiumDNS or FreeDNS. If your domain uses Namecheap Web Hosting DNS, add the record in cPanel instead. Remove any A, ALIAS, URL Redirect or other CNAME record on the same host first, because they conflict. Namecheap says to allow 30 minutes for the record to be accepted.

Squarespace (including former Google Domains)

Domains that came over from Google Domains are managed in Squarespace now. You can edit DNS there if the domain is registered with Squarespace or connected through Nameserver Connect. If it's connected through DNS Connect, add the record at your other provider.

1. Open your domains dashboard and click the domain name.
2. Click DNS, then DNS Settings.
3. Scroll to Custom Records and click Add record.
4. Enter your password, or reauthenticate with two-factor authentication, and click Continue.
5. Choose CNAME in the Type menu.
6. In Name, enter uploads. Squarespace doesn't allow @ for a CNAME.
7. In Data, enter the target hostname, with no slashes or colons.
8. Click Save.

Squarespace says record changes can take 24 to 48 hours to update, and custom records get a 4-hour TTL by default.

Microsoft 365

Use these steps only if Microsoft manages your domain's DNS. If you added your domain to Microsoft 365 but kept your DNS records at your registrar or DNS host, add the CNAME there instead.

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Settings > Domains.
2. Select the domain, then choose DNS Records.
3. Select + Add record.
4. Set the type to CNAME (Alias).
5. In Host name or Alias, enter uploads.
6. In Points to address, enter the target hostname.
7. Select Save.

Other DNS providers

Every DNS host follows the same pattern. Open the DNS or zone settings for your domain and add a record. Choose CNAME, then enter the subdomain as the name and the target hostname as the value. If the form adds your domain for you, enter only the subdomain.

Check that the CNAME record works

Don't wait for a client to tell you the link is broken. Look the record up yourself:

• In a terminal (Windows, Mac or Linux): nslookup -type=CNAME uploads.yourfirm.com
• On Mac or Linux: dig uploads.yourfirm.com CNAME +short
• In a browser: Google Admin Toolbox Dig. Enter the name and select CNAME.

A correct answer shows the target hostname. If you get no record, or "Nonexistent domain", either the change hasn't reached the server you asked yet or the record has a typo.

Wait times vary by provider: within an hour for most changes at GoDaddy, about 30 minutes at Namecheap, and 24 to 48 hours at Squarespace. If an older record existed for the same name, servers may keep serving the old answer until its TTL runs out.

Common CNAME mistakes

• The domain twice. Typing uploads.yourfirm.com into a field that already adds yourfirm.com gives you uploads.yourfirm.com.yourfirm.com. Enter uploads.
• A URL instead of a hostname. Enter the hostname only, without https://, slashes or a page path.
• A conflicting record. An old A record or redirect on the same name blocks the CNAME. Check that nothing else depends on it, then delete it.
• The wrong DNS host. A record added at your registrar does nothing if your nameservers point somewhere else.

Set up a custom domain for your upload page in File Request Pro

In File Request Pro, a custom domain comes with the Business ($149 a month) and Enterprise (from $249 a month) plans. You set it on each collection:

1. Choose an address you control, such as uploads.yourfirm.com.
2. At your DNS provider, create a CNAME from that hostname to secure.filerequestpro.com. Point it at the hostname only, not at a full /up/... page URL.
3. Open the collection's Design > Branding section and enter the complete HTTPS address in Custom URL, for example https://uploads.yourfirm.com.
4. Save, give DNS time to propagate, then test the address in a separate browser session.

To run several collections on one subdomain, give each its own path, such as https://uploads.yourfirm.com/onboarding and https://uploads.yourfirm.com/monthly-documents.

If the address doesn't open, check the hostname, the CNAME target and the saved Custom URL, and ask your DNS administrator about conflicting records. If DNS resolves but the HTTPS address still fails, contact support with the hostname and the error you see. Don't click through certificate warnings, and don't share your DNS login with anyone. The custom domain guide has the same steps for reference.

The domain is one part of white-label upload pages. Business and Enterprise also let you remove File Request Pro branding, add custom CSS and send client emails from your own address through SMTP. Your logo shows on every plan and custom colors start on Lite, so check pricing to see which plan covers what you need. Clients upload without creating an account, and you can build and test your first upload page on a free trial.