What is a custom domain?

A custom domain replaces the host's address in your links with one you own. Instead of a nudgehost.com URL, the file lives at something like files.yourstudio.com, which reads as part of your brand rather than a third party's. The file and everything around it are identical; only the address changes. For a personal share this is cosmetic, but for anything client-facing the address is part of the impression you make.

Setting one up is a DNS task, not a technical ordeal. You add a record at your registrar pointing your domain or a subdomain at NudgeHost, and once it resolves your links use your address, with the securing certificate issued automatically. The feature lives on a paid tier, so our pricing is where it starts, and the hosting underneath is the same as any page you would host an HTML file. The work is one record and a short wait for it to propagate.

The payoff is trust and consistency. A recruiter or client who sees your own domain on a link to send a portfolio to a recruiter reads it as more established than a generic URL, and your links stop advertising someone else's brand. The certificate keeps the connection secure on your domain just as it does on the default. A custom domain is the step from sharing files to sharing them under your own name.