What Forwarding Does
Domain forwarding sends visitors from one address to another automatically. Typical uses: sending an old domain to your new brand, pointing extra extensions such as the .com and .co.in versions to your primary site, or redirecting a short campaign domain to a landing page.
Types of Redirects
- 301 Permanent. Tells browsers and search engines the move is final. Search ranking value passes to the new address. Use this for rebrands and consolidation.
- 302 Temporary. Signals a short term move. Search engines keep the old address indexed. Use only for genuinely temporary situations such as maintenance or seasonal campaigns.
- Masked forwarding. Shows the target site while keeping the original address in the browser bar using a frame. We advise against it: it breaks SSL padlock clarity, harms SEO, and looks untrustworthy to visitors.
Setting Up a Redirect in cPanel
- Make sure the domain to be forwarded is added to your hosting account as an addon or parked domain and its DNS points to the hosting.
- In cPanel, open the Redirects tool.
- Choose Permanent 301, select the domain, leave the path blank to forward everything, and enter the destination URL including https.
- Tick the www option so both forms of the domain redirect, then click Add.
Common Questions
- Does the old domain need hosting? It needs somewhere to answer the request, which any of our hosting plans covers. It does not need its own website content.
- Does email keep working? Yes. Redirects only affect web traffic. MX records for email are untouched.
- Why does my redirect show a certificate warning? The forwarded domain also needs a valid SSL certificate, because browsers check it before following the redirect. AutoSSL handles this once DNS points to us.
If a redirect loops or refuses to update, clear your browser cache first, then open a support ticket with both addresses.
