Overview

By default, your organization has (or will create) a subdomain like the following:[yourorganization].findhelp.com. However, to give the population you serve a more cohesive brand experience and a user-friendly URL, you can mask this findhelp.com subdomain with a Vanity URL. 

We recommend that all customers create a Vanity URL. Customers can purchase the domain name of their choice and then maintain it as part of a larger marketing and branding strategy.

Examples of a Vanity URL’s

• peoplesresourcehub.org  (instead of peoplesresourcehub.findhelp.com)
• jeffcofamiliescolorado.org (instead of jeffcofamiliescolorado.findhelp.com)

Example

Why Use a Vanity URL?

• Helps strongly promote your mission and associated brand by not showing “findhelp”in the URL 
• Makes it easier to market to the people you are helping, and the people who are helping them (looks great on postcards!)
• Is an easier to remember URL, than the URL with “findhelp” in it
• Reduces the likelihood that someone will navigate to findhelp.org instead of your site
• Improves Search Engine Optimization (SEO)  so that more users can find the site and start connecting with resources

Implementation Overview

Findhelp can redirect your sites to be accessible using a vanity URL. This facilitates cohesive branding and a user-friendly URL. Fill out this guide and submit to your CSM to start the process. 

There are two options for implementing a vanity URL (as an example, say your brand is The Helpful Friend): 

Option 1: Use a subdomain of a URL that you already own (ex. helpfulfriend.yourorganization.com)

Option 2: Acquire a new URL for use with your site(s) (ex. thehelpfulfriend.org),  including the subdomain of www (ex. www.thehelpfulfriend.org).

Other examples:

• www.[customdomain.org]
• my.[customdomain.org]

 We cannot map a subpage of a domain (ex. customdomain.org/thehelpfulfriend).

Setting up Your Vanity URL

In order to configure a vanity URL, you'll need to:

1. Purchase your domain or set up your subdomain

•  Depending on if a vanity URL is using “www.”, it must not exceed between 37-41 characters total (including the domain and .org/.com/etc.)
  • https://[upto41characters]
  • https://www.[upto37characters]

We recommend Customers purchase their own Domain and maintain it as part of their larger marketing and branding strategy. You can use a site like GoDaddy.com or Domains.com to see if the domain is available.

2. Once you've purchased your domain, you'll send the following information to you Customer Success Manager (CSM):

• What subdomain or URL did you set up for users to access your site?
• Your vanity URL address
  • https://[upto41characters]
  • https://www.[upto37characters]
• Is it a new domain or a subdomain of an existing Domain?