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How to set up a domain redirect

Maxim Tsitsejev
Updated

Applies to: All plans.

Before you start: You need access to your cPanel (open it by single sign-on from your client area -> Services -> My Services, open the service, then Log in to cPanel), and the domain you want to redirect must already be on your account. A redirect points one address to another — for example, sending an old page to a new one, or forcing visitors from a non-www address to your www address.

Note: This article covers redirecting a website address (a URL) to another URL. It is not the same as email forwarding. To forward an email address at your domain to an external mailbox, see How to set up email forwarding on a domain.

Choose 301 or 302 first

  • Permanent (301) — use this when the move is permanent. Search engines update their index and visitors' browsers remember it. This is the right choice most of the time.
  • Temporary (302) — use this when the change is short-term (for example, a maintenance page) and you do not want browsers or search engines to remember it.

Create the redirect

  1. In cPanel, open Domains -> Redirects.
  2. Under Type, choose Permanent (301) or Temporary (302).
  3. From the https?://(www.)? dropdown, select the domain or subdomain you want to redirect. Choose All Public Domains to apply it to every domain on the account.
  4. In the field after the domain, type the folder or path you want to redirect, or leave it blank to redirect the whole domain.
  5. In Redirects to, type the full destination URL, including https:// (for example, https://www.example.com/new-page).
  6. Under www. redirection, choose whether the redirect should apply to www and non-www, only www, or not www. The "redirect with or without www" option is the usual choice.
  7. Tick Wild Card Redirect if you want to redirect every file in a folder to the same path on the destination (optional).
  8. Click Add.

Result: Your redirect appears in the list at the bottom of the page. Visit the original address in a private/incognito browser window — you should land on the destination URL.

How redirects work on our platform

We run the LiteSpeed web server, so cPanel writes your redirect into the site's .htaccess file. If you manage your own .htaccess, you can see the redirect rule there after you save it. Changes take effect immediately.

Remove or change a redirect

To remove one, go back to Domains -> Redirects, find it in the list and click Delete. To change a redirect, delete the old one and add a new one.

Troubleshooting this task

  • The redirect does not work — clear your browser cache or test in a private/incognito window. Browsers cache 301 redirects aggressively, so an old result can stick.
  • You see a redirect loop — the destination eventually points back to the start. Check that you are not redirecting a page to itself or to an address that redirects back.
  • You want to redirect to a different domain — make sure the destination URL is complete and starts with https://.
  • You are trying to point your domain at our server (not redirect a URL) — that is a DNS and nameserver task, not a redirect. See the related articles below.

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