Introduction
What is domain name redirection, and how to set it up in HostArmada? Let’s talk a little bit about what it is before we get down to how to make the redirection.
When you redirect a URL, you're merely forwarding it to another address on the same or different domain. You can set up a redirect that sends visitors to your new domain name when they'll try to access a URL that belongs to your old domain.
For example, you can create a redirect so that www.example.com automatically redirects users to www.example.net.
Redirects are not bad for SEO, but — as with so many things — only if you put them in place correctly. A lousy implementation might cause all kinds of trouble, from loss of PageRank to loss of traffic.
Pointing two URLs to the same website is an excellent way to direct traffic to your site from several different domain names. You can easily accomplish this via domain redirection.
How to set up a domain name redirect in cPanel?
Now let’s show you how to do a redirection!
Step 1. Please access your cPanel.
If you are having issues with that, you can check this cPanel HostArmada tutorial for more information.
Step 2. Navigate to the “Domains” section and click on the “Redirects” tab. Alternatively, you can type down "Redirects" in the cPanel search bar to locate it faster.
Step 3. To add a redirect, perform the following actions:
Select a redirect type from the Type menu.
Permanent (301) — This setting notifies the visitor’s browser to update its records.
Temporary (302) — This setting does not update the visitor’s bookmarks.
Step 4. Select a domain name from the menu, or select **All Public Domains** to redirect all of the domains that your cPanel account controls.
Step 5. In the next text box, enter the rest of the URL from which you wish for the server to redirect visitors. For example, if you want to redirect http://example.com/directory.file.html to another URL, enter directory/file.html in this text box.
Step 6. In the “Redirects to” text box, enter the URL to which you wish to redirect users.
*Note: You must specify a protocol in this text box. For example, http://, https://
Step 7. After that, you need to select one of the following settings:
- Only redirect with www. — This setting only redirects visitors who enter the www. prefix before the domain name part of the URL.
- Redirect with or without www. — This setting redirects all users, regardless of whether the visitor enters the www. prefix before the domain name part of the URL.
- Do Not Redirect www. — This setting does not redirect users who enter the www. prefix before the domain name part of the URL.
*Note: Please keep in mind that there is a possibility for the domain redirect not to function properly even if you have set it up correctly. In most cases, this happens because the cPanel service adds the redirection rule at the bottom of the '.htaccess' files. Therefore, if there are other rules defined in the file already, the redirection rule will be read last. To fix that, you simply need to move the redirection rule at the top of the '.htaccess' files. In case you are not sure how to do that, please make sure to check our guide on How to fix domain redirects.
Step 8. (Optional) Select the Wild Card Redirect setting if you wish to redirect all files within a directory to the same filename in the new directory.
For example, if you enable the Wild Card Redirect setting and example1.com redirects to example.com, then a visitor who tries to access the http://example1.com/pic.jpg URL redirects to the http://example.com/pic.jpg URL.
Step 9. Click on Add to complete the process. To test the redirect, click the link under Directory in the Current Redirects table. If you correctly configured the redirect, the system directs you to the original domain.
*Note: To add a redirect where the original domain appears in the browser’s address bar, create an addon domain and redirect it to your chosen domain. You can do this in cPanel’s Addon Domains interface (cPanel >> Home >> Domains >> Addon Domains).
To see how to check and manage your addon domains, you can take a look at this HostArmada Addon domains tutorial.
Conclusion
That is the gist of making redirects in your cPanel!
Please bear in mind that most web browsers add redirections to a cache. That means that you and your website’s visitors will need to clear your web browser cache before seeing a redirection and also when you’d like to see if a redirection has been removed.
*Note: Your redirection will also not work if your domain name isn’t pointed via the DNS system towards your HostArmada web hosting account. That can be another reason for it not to be working properly.
Suppose you followed the instructions and did everything you could to complete the redirection. However, if it is still not working, then have no fear, and reach out to us immediately so that we can take a look for you to resolve it!