Set Up WordPress Domain Mapping Without Multisite

Trying to set up WordPress domain mapping?

With domain mapping, you can “map” separate domain names to specific resources on your WordPress site, e.g. a certain page that you’ve created.

It’s really handy for setting up standalone landing pages, microsites, and more. But if you’re not using the right tools, WordPress domain mapping can get complicated fast.

WP Landing Kit is a super-straightforward way to carry out WordPress domain mapping. What’s more, you won’t need multiple installations and you don’t need to set up WordPress multisite.

You can use a single WordPress install and map unlimited domains to existing posts, pages, or custom post types on your site using a simple interface like this:

Setting up WordPress domain mapping for a single page resource.

👉 In this post, we’re going to show you how to carry out WordPress domain mapping using WP Landing Kit. However, in our first section, we’re going to talk about domain mapping and what it means.

An introduction to WordPress domain mapping

For the unaware, WordPress domain mapping is a complex technology that can have a simple implementation. While we’re not going to get too far into the Domain Name System (DNS) and its setup, there are a couple of key points to note:

  • The DNS connects IP addresses with domain names and lets an end-user browse using it.
  • Each URL for a page is really a construct, in that it could be anything. For example, you could get to the page you’re reading now through the IP address rather than the ‘pretty permalink’.

Combining both of these points, you can implement WordPress domain mapping. This is where you take a full top-level domain (TLD) name, and map it to a page on your site with another permalink. For example, you might want to map supercube.com to example.com/products/toys/super-cube.

👉 However, while the process can be complex, there’s no need to dig into the underbelly of the DNS. Instead, you can use a WordPress plugin.

Introducing WP Landing Kit

First off, you’ll want to get to know the WP Landing Kit plugin. It’s a way to map domains to individual posts or pages on your site (or custom post types). This lets you implement complete microsites without the need for a multisite installation or multiple WordPress websites.

The WP Landing Kit homepage.

The plugin offers a number of top-drawer features and functionality to leverage:

  • You can use as many domains as you need from one WordPress installation.
  • You’re able to create microsites thanks to ‘subpage support’.
  • There’s the ability to choose which post types support domain mapping.

WP Landing Kit is a premium plugin. As such, a one-site license costs $99 per year. However, this gives you the full feature set of the plugin without restriction. The Pro tier will let you use WP Landing Kit on as many other websites as you need – and there’s also a lifetime license available too.

Why you’ll want to use WP Landing Kit to create landing pages

The basic functionality of WP Landing Kit opens up a new world – one where you don’t need coding knowledge, multisite expertise, or any other technical know-how to create a landing page powerhouse. However, you could argue that with this knowledge, you don’t need a plugin such as WP Landing Kit.

There are a lot of reasons why you might want to leverage what this plugin has to offer though, even if you have development and coding experience:

  • The plugin offers flexibility. For example, you can access pages through your mapped domain, or through the original URL.
  • It’s compatible with any theme or page builder plugin, so you can employ it across all of your sites if you wish, without the fear of errors and glitches.
  • WP Landing Kit takes security seriously. You can access each mapped domain through HTTP or HTTPS, which means your end-user information is safe for every landing page you create.

⌛ WP Landing Kit takes a matter of minutes to install and set up. In fact, this is going to be the focus of the rest of the article.

How to set up WordPress domain mapping using WP Landing Kit

Over the next few sections, we’re going to show you how to use WP Landing Kit as a first-timer to the plugin. We’re going to cover the basic usage of the plugin, but before that, let’s talk about the installation process.

  1. Install, activate, and set up WP Landing Kit
  2. Set up WordPress domain mapping for your site’s pages
  3. Add records to your host and domain registrar

1. Install, activate, and set up WP Landing Kit

The first aspect you’ll need to note is that WP Landing Kit has some basic requirements for your WordPress and server installation:

  • You’ll want to use the same system requirements as WordPress.
  • For best results, use the most current version of WordPress, as WP Landing Kit will always support it.
  • Your choice of hosting should let you add alias or add-on domains.

Not every host is compatible with WP Landing Kit, although the most popular ones will be. What’s more, you’ll also want to note whether any of your current plugins play well with WP Landing Kit, as this could be the cause of incompatibilities.

As for the installation, the good news is that you’ll install WP Landing Kit like any other premium plugin. Once you install and activate it, you’ll want to head to the Settings > WP Landing Kit page within WordPress to set up the plugin:

The WP Landing Kit Settings screen.

Here, you’ll find a few options to help you tailor WP Landing Kit to your own requirements:

  • You can choose whether you can map to pages or posts, or both. If you’re using custom post types, you can also map to those.
  • There’s the flexibility to choose whether you can access a page through the original URL.
  • You can also add ‘response headers’ to your mapped domains. This will help you if you need to make a support request.
  • Finally, you can force domains to use either the HTTP or HTTPS protocol. If you leave this set to None, your site settings take precedence.

Once you save your changes, you’re ready to carry out domain mapping. We’ll focus on this for the rest of the article.

2. Set up WordPress domain mapping for your site’s pages

The bulk of your work will take place on the Domains screen within the WordPress dashboard. On your first time, you’ll find it empty:

An empty All Domain screen within WordPress.

However, the Add New button will take you to a screen where you can set up a new mapped domain:

The Add New Domain screen.

There are four sections here that you’ll want to fill in. First, enter the domain you’d like to map into the Title field at the top of the screen, and choose an Author:

Adding a title for a new mapped domain.

Next, scroll down to the Mappings metabox, and expand the domain root row. This will open out a few more fields:

Setting up WordPress domain mapping for a single page resource.

This is where you’ll choose the resource you’ll map to. For example, you’ll pick a desired Action from the drop-down menu, then select a Resource. Once you do this, you can find the page in the search box and select the page:

Choosing a resource for a mapped domain.

You can also add additional domain mappings through the Add URL Mapping button:

The Add URL Mapping button, along with the associated fields.

This is how you’ll add subpage mappings to other resources. Regardless, at the bottom of the screen, you’ll see the Settings metabox:

The Settings metabox.

This will let you set a site icon, and enforce an HTTP protocol if you wish. At this point, you can click the Publish button, and turn to your hosting provider’s control panel.

3. Add records to your host and domain registrar

To complete the process, you’ll want to carry out two tasks:

  • First, add your mapped domain as an Alias or Addon Domain within your hosting control panel. We cover this in our look at cPanel, and it’s simple to do.
  • You’ll also want to add an ‘A‘ record to your mapped domain within your registrar’s control panel.

For the latter, this will need to take place wherever you choose to manage your domains. Regardless, you’ll want to add the A record to your domain using the host value of @ and the IP address for your WordPress site’s server:

Adding a new A record to your domain registrar.

Alternatively, you could also use a CNAME record if you wish. At this point, you’ll have all of the basic steps down pat. For more, you’ll want to check out the WP Landing Kit documentation and support page. There’s a lot to assimilate, and you’ll want to keep the documentation to hand to get the most out of the plugin.

Get started with WordPress domain mapping

With WP Landing Kit, you can easily set up WordPress domain mapping without needing WordPress multisite or a complex technical setup.

You’ll be able to map unlimited domain names to existing posts, pages, or custom post types on your site using a simple interface.

This functionality can help you create standalone landing pages, microsites, and more, all powered by your existing single WordPress install.

💪 Get started today and you’ll be up and running with your first mapped domain in no time.

Do you still have any questions about how to set up WordPress domain mapping with WP Landing Kit? Let us know in the comments!

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