Also called own domain, branded domain
A custom domain is a web address you own and point at a service, so the page appears under your own name rather than the provider's.
Owning the domain means owning the address. If you later change tools, you repoint the domain and every link, printed card and search result keeps working — which is not true of an address that contains someone else's brand.
It also consolidates search equity. Links earned to pages on your own domain accumulate to that domain; links earned on a shared provider domain largely benefit the provider.
The setup is a DNS record and a certificate, both of which most services now automate. The recurring cost is the domain registration, typically a small annual fee.
In practice
Moving from `provider.com/yourname` to `yourname.com` keeps every existing link working through a redirect, and future links build your own domain.
Common mistake
Letting a domain lapse. Expired domains are bought within days and the old links then point at whatever the new owner publishes.
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