Quickstart

Get your first domain redirect up and running in under 5 minutes with this step-by-step guide.

Get started with Quickleap

This guide will walk you through creating your first domain redirect, from signup to viewing analytics. You’ll have a working redirect in under 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

• A domain name you own
• Access to your domain’s DNS settings
• The target URL you want to redirect to

1. Create your account

   Sign up for a free Quickleap account:

   1. Go to the Quickleap dashboard
   2. Click Get Started or Sign Up
   3. Choose your authentication method:
      • Email and password
      • OAuth with Google
      • OAuth with GitHub
   4. Complete the registration process

   Your account is created instantly. No email verification is required to start creating redirects.

2. Create your first redirect

   Once logged in, create your first domain redirect:

   1. Navigate to the dashboard
   2. Click Add Redirect or Create New Redirect
   3. Fill in the redirect details:

   Example redirect configuration

   {
     "fromDomain": "old-domain.com",
     "toDomain": "https://new-domain.com",
     "redirectType": "permanent",
     "pathForwarding": true,
     "queryForwarding": true,
     "samplingRate": 1.0
   }
   

   Field explanations:

   • From domain - The domain you want to redirect (e.g., old-domain.com)
   • To domain - The target URL (e.g., https://new-domain.com)
   • Redirect type:
     • permanent (301) - For permanent domain changes and SEO value transfer
     • temporary (302) - For temporary campaigns and testing
   • Path forwarding - Preserve the URL path structure
     • If enabled: old-domain.com/blog → new-domain.com/blog
     • If disabled: old-domain.com/blog → new-domain.com
   • Query forwarding - Preserve URL query parameters
     • If enabled: old-domain.com?utm_source=email → new-domain.com?utm_source=email
   • Sampling rate - Analytics sampling rate (0.0 to 1.0)
     • 1.0 = Track 100% of traffic
     • 0.1 = Track 10% of traffic (useful for high-traffic domains)

   4. Click Create Redirect

   Your redirect is created instantly and assigned a unique ID. However, it won’t work until you verify your domain.

3. Verify your domain

   Before your redirect becomes active, you need to verify domain ownership:

   DNS configuration

   1. Go to your domain registrar’s DNS management panel
   2. Update your DNS records according to Quickleap’s instructions:
      • For root domain (example.com): Add an A record pointing to Quickleap’s servers
      • For subdomain (www.example.com): Add a CNAME record pointing to Quickleap

   DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate globally, though they typically complete within minutes to a few hours.

   Verify domain status

   Once you’ve updated your DNS records:

   1. Return to the Quickleap dashboard
   2. Find your redirect in the list
   3. Click Verify Domain
   4. Quickleap will check your DNS configuration

   You can also verify programmatically using the API:

   Verify domain via API

   const response = await fetch('/verify-domain', {
     method: 'POST',
     headers: {
       'Content-Type': 'application/json',
     },
     body: JSON.stringify({
       domain: 'old-domain.com'
     })
   });
   
   const result = await response.json();
   console.log(result.verified); // true or false
   

   HTTPS/SSL certificates are automatically provisioned once your domain is verified. This process is handled entirely by Quickleap.

4. Test your redirect

   Once your domain is verified, test that the redirect works:

   Browser test

   1. Open a web browser (ideally in incognito/private mode)
   2. Navigate to your source domain (e.g., http://old-domain.com)
   3. Verify you’re redirected to the target URL
   4. Check that the URL path and query parameters are preserved (if enabled)

   Command line test

   You can also test using curl to see the redirect headers:

   Test with curl

   # Test basic redirect
   curl -I http://old-domain.com
   
   # You should see:
   # HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
   # Location: https://new-domain.com
   
   # Test with path forwarding
   curl -I http://old-domain.com/blog/post-1
   
   # You should see:
   # HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
   # Location: https://new-domain.com/blog/post-1
   

   If the redirect isn’t working, ensure your DNS changes have propagated using a tool like nslookup or online DNS checkers.

5. View analytics

   Monitor your redirect traffic with Quickleap’s analytics dashboard:

   Access analytics

   1. Go to your dashboard
   2. Click on your redirect to view details
   3. Navigate to the Analytics tab

   Available metrics

   Quickleap provides comprehensive analytics for your redirects:

   • Basic stats - Total hits, unique visitors, time range comparisons
   • Time-based analytics - Traffic over time with customizable intervals
   • Geographic data - Visitor locations by country and region
   • Device information - Breakdown by device type, browser, OS
   • Referrer data - Traffic sources and referring domains
   • Hourly patterns - Peak traffic times and usage patterns
   • Bot detection - Separate human vs bot traffic
   • Campaign tracking - UTM parameter analysis

   Fetch analytics via API

   You can also retrieve analytics programmatically:

   Get basic statistics

   const response = await fetch(
     `/analytics/redirect/${redirectId}/stats/basic?start=2024-01-01&end=2024-01-31`
   );
   
   const stats = await response.json();
   console.log(stats);
   // {
   //   totalHits: 15420,
   //   uniqueVisitors: 8234,
   //   averagePerDay: 497,
   //   peakDay: "2024-01-15"
   // }
   

   Get geographic breakdown

   const response = await fetch(
     `/analytics/redirect/${redirectId}/stats/geo?groupBy=country`
   );
   
   const geoData = await response.json();
   console.log(geoData);
   // [
   //   { country: "US", hits: 8420, percentage: 54.6 },
   //   { country: "GB", hits: 2134, percentage: 13.8 },
   //   { country: "CA", hits: 1876, percentage: 12.2 }
   // ]
   

   Analytics data is updated in real-time. The sampling rate you configured determines what percentage of traffic is tracked.

Next steps

Now that you have your first redirect working, explore more advanced features:

Set up advanced rules

Create intelligent redirects based on location, device, browser, and custom conditions

Integrate with your app

Learn how to automate redirects

Configure custom domains

Set up multiple domains and advanced DNS configurations

Explore analytics

Deep dive into all available analytics and reporting features

Common issues

Redirect not working

• Verify DNS changes have propagated (can take up to 48 hours)
• Ensure domain verification is complete in the dashboard
• Check that DNS records point to the correct Quickleap servers
• Clear your browser cache or test in incognito mode

HTTPS certificate issues

• SSL certificates are provisioned automatically after domain verification
• Allow up to 10 minutes after verification for certificate issuance
• Ensure your DNS is configured correctly before verification

Analytics not showing data

• Check that your sampling rate is set correctly (1.0 for full tracking)
• Ensure traffic is actually reaching your redirect (test manually)
• Analytics may take a few minutes to appear after redirect creation

Get help

If you’re stuck or need assistance:

• Check our full documentation
• Review the API reference
• Contact support at [e-mail]