How to Point a Domain to Sub-Pages Without Paying for Extra Hosting

The Problem: The “Spotify Archive” Mess – Stop Paying for Hosting: Use “Like-for-Like” Redirects to Link Your Domains for Free

When a podcast reaches 200+ episodes and 17+ seasons, discovery becomes a nightmare. Spotify and other major players offer poor filtering, making it nearly impossible for new listeners to find specific older content.

The Goal: Use a short, memorable domain (ZulfTalks.com) to act as a “remote control” for a primary content site (TrustedCreators.org), allowing for instant shortcuts like zulftalks.com/s17.

Section 1: The Domain Infrastructure

To keep things fast and professional, we used a two-domain system:

  1. The Shortcut Domain: zulftalks.com (Hosted at Namecheap).
  2. The Content Hub: trustedcreators.org (Hosted at Namecheap).

The Nameserver Handover

To enable “Smart Redirects,” we moved the DNS control of the shortcut domain away from Namecheap Basic DNS and pointed it to Cloudflare.

  • Nameservers used: (As provided by the Cloudflare dashboard).

Section 2: The DNS “Dummy” Trick

Because the shortcut domain does not have its own website files, Cloudflare needs a “target” to catch traffic so it can process redirect rules.

  1. A Records: Created two A records (@ and www).
  2. IP Address: Set to 192.0.2.1 (A standard “dummy” IP for redirects).
  3. Proxy Status: Set to Proxied (Orange Cloud). This ensures traffic passes through Cloudflare’s “Edge” servers first.

Section 3: SSL and Security

To avoid “Connection Not Secure” errors on mobile devices:

  1. SSL/TLS Mode: Set to Flexible.
  2. Always Use HTTPS: Toggled ON in Edge Certificates.
  3. Automatic HTTPS Rewrites: Toggled ON.

Section 4: The “Smart” Redirect Rules

We configured Cloudflare’s Redirect Rules to handle traffic based on priority. Rules are processed from top to bottom.

Priority 1: The Archive Rule (Seasons 1–10)

Goal: Consolidate older content into one archive page.

  • Type: Custom Filter Expression
  • Expression: (http.host eq “zulftalks.com” or http.host eq “www.zulftalks.com”) and (http.request.uri.path in {“/s1” “/s2” “/s3” “/s4” “/s5” “/s6” “/s7” “/s8” “/s9” “/s10”})
  • Target: https://trustedcreators.org/s1to10/

Priority 2: The Wildcard Rule (Season Shortcuts)

Goal: Automatically handle all future seasons (S11–S100+) with one rule.

  • Type: Wildcard Pattern
  • Request URL: https://zulftalks.com/s*
  • Target URL (Dynamic): https://trustedcreators.org/S${1}
  • Status Code: 301 (Permanent)

Priority 3: The Root Rule (Mailing List)

Goal: Send anyone typing just the domain to the email landing page.

  • Type: Custom Filter Expression
  • Expression: (http.host eq “zulftalks.com” or http.host eq “www.zulftalks.com”) and http.request.uri.path eq “/”
  • Target: https://trustedcreators.org/zulftalkspodcast/

Section 5: The WordPress Destination (EasyWP)

On the primary site (TrustedCreators.org), each season requires a dedicated page to receive the shortcut traffic.

The “S” Page Setup

  1. URL Structure: The slug must match the shortcut (e.g., /S17).
  2. The Player: Use the Podcast Player Plugin (by Aayush).
  3. The Filter: Under the block settings, use the Episode Filter to include only text matching “Season 17.”
  4. The Lead Magnet: Show notes are free/open to build trust; deep-dive resources are gated behind the email sign-up at the bottom of the page.

Section 6: The New Workflow

To launch a new season in the future:

  1. Create a new page in WordPress with the slug /S[Number].
  2. Drop in the Podcast Player block and set the filter.
  3. Mention the short link zulftalks.com/s[Number] in the podcast audio.
  4. The system handles the rest automatically.

The Technical Stack & Resource Directory

To replicate or maintain this “Like-for-Like” redirect system, these are the essential tools and platforms used in the workflow.

1. Core Infrastructure

  • Namecheap: The Domain Registrar for zulftalks.com and the Managed WordPress Host (EasyWP) for trustedcreators.org.
  • Cloudflare: The “Edge” Network provider. Cloudflare handles the DNS, SSL security, and the logic for the “Like-for-Like” wildcard redirects without requiring a secondary hosting account.

2. Podcast Management & Distribution

  • Spotify for Creators: (Formerly Anchor) The primary host for the audio/video files and the source of the RSS Feed that powers the entire system.
  • Podcast Player Plugin (by Aayush): The WordPress plugin used on the destination pages to filter the massive 232+ episode feed into organized, season-specific galleries.

3. Testing & Verification Tools

  • Redirect-Checker.org: The “Truth Tool.” This was used to verify that zulftalks.com/s17 successfully executes a 301 Redirect and lands on the correct trustedcreators.org/S17/ URL with a 200 OK status.
  • Cloudflare DNA/SSL Checker: Used to ensure the “Universal SSL” is active and that the “Orange Cloud” proxy is correctly handling traffic.

4. Listener Accessibility Tools

  • AntennaPod: The recommended open-source podcast manager for Android. We used their Deep Link Generator to create a “Magic Link” that allows listeners to bypass Spotify’s poor UI and jump directly into a filtered, searchable version of the podcast.
  • Deep Link Formula: https://antennapod.org/deeplink/subscribe?url=[RSS_FEED_URL]

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