How to Redirect a Domain Name (Step-by-Step Guide for 2026)
Updated: 1 day ago
To redirect a domain is to send everyone who visits one domain name to a different web address automatically.
You redirect a domain by opening the forwarding or redirect settings where the domain is managed, entering the destination URL, and choosing a permanent 301 redirect for a lasting move or a temporary 302 for a short-term one. DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to spread worldwide, so test the redirect before you announce it.
The sections below walk through the steps one at a time, then show how each type of redirect affects your search rankings.
Quick Answer: To redirect a domain, open the domain's forwarding settings at your registrar, enter the destination URL, and pick a permanent 301 redirect if the move is lasting. Test both the www and non-www versions after saving, and allow up to 48 hours for DNS changes to spread. Use a 302 only for temporary moves, because Google keeps showing the original page in search results for temporary redirects.
What is a domain redirect and when should you use one?
A domain redirect, also called domain forwarding or URL forwarding, tells browsers to load a different address whenever someone visits your domain. The visitor types one name and lands on another.
Redirects work through HTTP status codes. A 301 signals a permanent move and a 302 signals a temporary one, and Google handles the two differently.
People redirect domains for a handful of recurring reasons:
Rebranding: the old domain sends visitors to the new brand's domain.
Consolidating extensions: .net, .org and other variants point to the main .com.
Catching typos: misspellings and alternate spellings you also registered land on the right site.
Shortening links: a short, memorable domain sends people to a longer campaign or product page.
Moving a site: an old domain forwards to the new one so existing traffic and links keep working.
The pressure to register variants is real. Verisign's Domain Name Industry Brief counted 386.9 million registered domain names at the end of 2025, up 6.2% year over year, so the name you want is often taken in at least one extension.
Wix data also shows people are 13x more likely to register a .com than any other extension, so the .com is a common choice for the destination domain.
Before you register variants to redirect, Wix Domains' domain name search shows which extensions of your name are still available, so you only pay for the ones worth keeping.
The nuance: A redirect only works while you keep the old domain registered. The rule lives at the old domain, so letting it expire ends the redirect and can eventually let someone else register the name.
What do you need before you redirect a domain?
Three things need to be in place before you change any settings:
Control of the old domain: you need to log in where it's registered or where its DNS is managed.
A live destination: the address you're redirecting to should already load correctly over HTTPS.
A decision on permanence: choose a permanent 301 or a temporary 302 before you save.
Control matters because redirect settings live with whoever manages the domain's DNS. If you're not sure where that is, look up the domain's nameservers first.
Test the destination in a private browser window before you point anything at it. A redirect to a page that errors out sends visitors, and search engines, straight to the error.
Wix's help center adds a platform-specific requirement. To forward a domain to a Wix site, you must first upgrade the site and connect a domain, and you can't redirect from a free Wix URL.
How to redirect a domain name: the universal steps
The labels differ by registrar, but every domain redirect follows the same six steps:
Decide whether the move is permanent (301) or temporary (302).
Confirm that the destination URL loads correctly over HTTPS.
Log in where the old domain is managed and open its forwarding, redirect or DNS settings.
Enter the destination URL and choose the redirect type.
Set up the www version of the domain too, so both addresses redirect.
Save, wait for DNS changes to spread, and test the old domain in a private browser window.
The next sections show how those steps look at Wix, GoDaddy and Namecheap, plus how a server-level redirect works. Use the one that matches where your domain is registered.
How to redirect a domain to a Wix site
Wix documents domain forwarding as a three-step process for sending an old domain to a new Wix site. It starts with page-level redirects, because the domain redirect only handles the address itself.
Set up 301 redirects for old pages. In your site's SEO Dashboard, open the URL Redirect Manager, choose New Redirect, enter the old URL path, and enter the new page or the full external URL.
Connect your old domain to Wix. In Domains, choose Add an Existing Domain, select Connect a domain you already own, pick the site, and follow the prompts. The old domain becomes a secondary domain.
Redirect the secondary domain to the primary one. In Domains, click Assign next to the unassigned domain, pick a site, choose Redirect it to the primary domain, and click Assign.
Wix says visitors who go to the old domain are then redirected to the primary domain automatically.
Two limits are worth knowing before you start. Wix's 301 redirects only work with custom domains, and the URL Redirect Manager can't redirect a homepage.
The nuance: Page redirects and domain redirects solve different problems. A homepage can't be redirected in the URL Redirect Manager, so the old domain's homepage traffic only moves when you redirect the whole domain in step three.
How to redirect a domain at GoDaddy
GoDaddy calls the feature domain forwarding, and you set it up from the domain's settings page. You choose whether the destination starts with http:// or https://, enter the destination URL, and then pick a forwarding type:
Permanent (301): tells search engines to treat the new site as the permanent location.
Temporary (302): redirects users and search engines for a limited time.
Forward with masking: keeps your domain in the browser's address bar while showing the destination's content.
GoDaddy says forwarding over HTTPS is applied automatically when you set it up this way.
If you want the www version to forward as well, GoDaddy says the www CNAME must point to @. Some sites don't support masking, and a masked domain that shows a blank white page needs to switch to Forward only.
How to redirect a domain at Namecheap
Namecheap calls the feature a URL redirect record. You can set it from the domain's Manage page or from the Advanced DNS tab, and the redirect type comes from a drop-down menu:
Unmasked: a temporary (302) redirect that shows the destination's address.
Masked: keeps your domain in the address bar.
Permanent (301): signals a lasting move to search engines.
Check for conflicting records before you save. Namecheap warns that A, CNAME, ALIAS and URL redirect records with different values on the same host conflict with each other.
Namecheap adds that a hidden A record pointing to its forwarding server appears while the redirect is active, and it disappears when you delete the redirect record. A redirect between HTTP and HTTPS within the same domain must be set up through the .htaccess file or Namecheap's SSL plugin in cPanel.
How to redirect a domain at the server level
If you control the web server that answers for the old domain, a server-side redirect gives search engines the clearest signal. Google's documentation lists server-side redirects first among the ways to set up permanent and temporary redirects, ordered by how reliably Google interprets them.
On Apache servers, a permanent redirect can be a single directive in the configuration or the .htaccess file. Nginx and other servers have their own equivalents.
Most registrars hide this layer. Their forwarding feature runs on their own servers, which is why you can redirect a domain without hosting anything yourself.
How to redirect a domain to a specific page or path
A domain redirect doesn't have to land on a homepage. Registrar forwarding tools accept a full destination URL, so you can send a short domain straight to a campaign page or a product page.
Page-level redirects work the other way around. They map individual old paths to new ones, and Wix's URL Redirect Manager handles this with single redirects that connect one old path to one new URL.
Wix also offers group redirects, which move related URLs that share the same path in one step. The help center's example is a store whose old product pages lived under /products and now live under /product-page, so one group redirect changes the path for every product at once.
Group redirects save time on large migrations, but they only help when the new paths mirror the old ones. If the structure changed by more than a folder name, map the pages one at a time.
How to redirect www to non-www or HTTP to HTTPS
A same-domain redirect is a different job from a domain redirect. It sends one version of your own address to another, such as www to non-www or HTTP to HTTPS, so search engines see a single preferred address.
Ahrefs' guide to 301 redirects lists both cases as common uses of a 301. Namecheap's documentation adds that an HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect within the same domain must be set up through the .htaccess file or its SSL plugin in cPanel, not through URL redirect records.
Other hosts handle this in their own settings, so check your host's documentation. Pick one preferred version first, then redirect every other version to it with a 301, which keeps links and bookmarks pointing at a single address.
How do redirect settings compare across registrars?
The table compares where to find redirect settings and what each registrar's documentation says to watch for.
Registrar | Where to find it | Redirect options | What to watch for |
Wix | Domains, then Assign; URL Redirect Manager for pages | 301 redirects for pages; domain redirect to the primary domain | No redirects from free Wix URLs; no homepage redirect in the URL Redirect Manager |
GoDaddy | Domain Settings page, forwarding | Permanent (301), Temporary (302), Forward with masking | The www CNAME must point to @; masked pages can show blank |
Namecheap | Manage, Domain tab or Advanced DNS | Unmasked, Masked, Permanent (301) | Conflicting A, CNAME and ALIAS records; HTTP-to-HTTPS on one domain needs .htaccess or the SSL plugin |
How long does a domain redirect take to work?
A domain redirect can take up to 48 hours to work everywhere, because DNS changes spread gradually. Wix's help center describes domain propagation as the process of updating name servers around the world after changes to DNS records.
During that window, some visitors may still reach the old destination while others already see the new one.
You can check progress with a free DNS lookup tool such as whatsmydns.net, which Wix's help center recommends for confirming that records have propagated.
After you save, test these four addresses:
The old domain with http:// in front.
The old domain with https:// in front.
The www version of the old domain.
An old page path, if you set up page-level redirects.
301 vs 302: which domain redirect type should you use?
A 301 redirect is the right choice for a permanent move, and a 302 redirect is the right choice for a temporary one.
Google's documentation draws the line clearly. Permanent redirects show the new destination in search results, and temporary redirects show the source page.
Choosing the wrong type tells search engines the opposite of what you intend. A 302 left in place after a permanent move keeps the old address in results.
Use a 301 when the old address is gone for good:
A rebrand or domain change.
A retired page or site that now lives elsewhere.
A move from HTTP to HTTPS on the same domain.
Use a 302 when the original address is coming back:
A maintenance page that replaces the site for a few hours.
A test that sends some visitors to a variant.
A short-lived promotion that points to a temporary page.
The table summarizes how Google's redirect documentation treats each type.
Redirect type | Status code | Meaning | What Google shows in results | Typical use |
Permanent | 301 | Moved permanently | The new destination | Rebrands, domain moves, consolidation |
Permanent, method-preserving | 308 | Permanent redirect | The new destination | Permanent moves where the request method must stay the same |
Temporary | 302 | Found | The original page | Short-term tests and maintenance |
Temporary, method-preserving | 307 | Temporary redirect | The original page | Temporary moves where the request method must stay the same |
Instant meta refresh | None (HTML tag) | Browser-side redirect with no delay | Treated as permanent | When you can't set server redirects |
Delayed meta refresh | None (HTML tag) | Browser-side redirect after a pause | Treated as temporary | Last resort |
Most domain redirects only need a 301 or a 302. Registrar forwarding tools typically offer those two, and the method-preserving codes matter mainly for developers handling form submissions.
The nuance: Google also reads meta refresh redirects. An instant one is treated as permanent and a delayed one as temporary, so a page that refreshes after five seconds sends a temporary signal even if you meant it to be permanent.
How to redirect a domain without losing search rankings
A correctly configured 301 is the standard way to move a domain while keeping search visibility. Wix's help center says 301 redirects can keep traffic and SEO intact when you migrate a site.
Seven habits protect your rankings during a move:
Use a 301 redirect for any permanent domain move.
Redirect old URLs to the closest matching new pages, not everything to the homepage.
Point the old domain straight at the final address so visitors don't pass through extra redirects.
Keep the old domain registered and renewed for as long as the redirect needs to work.
Redirect both the www and non-www versions of the old domain.
Keep the destination on HTTPS so the redirect doesn't land on a warning page.
Test a sample of old URLs after the change and fix any that land on errors.
Wix's help center makes the page-level point directly: create 301 redirects for old pages that have a new URL, such as sending an old contact page to a new one.
Netguru's demand generation lead explains why a redirect isn't the whole story when a domain carries a brand:
"If we were a smaller company, we probably would have been encouraged to look for a new domain, but the costs of change and potential traffic loss weren't worth it. The value of our domain is purely from the branding perspective. We could move the whole content, redirect all the SEO value and links we have, but the branding is what makes the domain name important to us." — Kacper Rafalski, Demand Generation Team Leader at Netguru
A redirect carries traffic and links to the new address, but it can't carry the familiarity people already have with the old name.
Common domain redirect mistakes to avoid
Most failed redirects trace back to a short list of avoidable errors:
Using a 302 for a permanent move, which keeps the old address showing in search results.
Forgetting the www version, so one of the two addresses still goes nowhere.
Leaving conflicting DNS records in place, such as an A record and a URL redirect record on the same host.
Using masked forwarding with a destination that doesn't support it, which can show a blank page.
Redirecting to a destination that isn't live yet.
Letting the old domain expire while the redirect is still needed.
A five-minute test after saving catches most of these errors.
How to check that your domain redirect is working
A redirect that looks fine in your own browser can still be wrong for everyone else, because browsers can cache redirects and DNS changes spread unevenly. Run these checks in order:
Open the old domain in a private browser window and confirm it lands on the right page.
Repeat the test on your phone using mobile data, which uses a different network from your home or office.
Check the HTTP status code with your browser's developer tools or a header checker, and confirm it shows 301 for a permanent move.
Look up the domain's DNS records on whatsmydns.net to see whether the change has reached servers in other locations.
Search Google for the old domain over the following weeks, and watch whether its pages are replaced by the new ones.
If the status code shows 302 when you wanted 301, go back to the redirect type setting and change it. At registrars that offer a masked option, a redirect that looks right in the browser may be framing the destination rather than redirecting to it.
Should you redirect a domain or keep it as a separate site?
Redirecting isn't always the right answer, and the choice depends on whether the old domain still has a job to do. Three situations cover most cases:
Redirect it when the old domain's audience, links and traffic should follow you to the new address. Rebrands and domain consolidations fit this pattern.
Keep it as a separate site when it serves a distinct audience or product you plan to keep running. Redirecting it would send those visitors to a site that wasn't built for them.
Let it lapse only when it has no traffic, no links and no brand value worth protecting. Anyone can eventually register it after it drops.
Most owners who consolidate end up in the first group. The cost of renewing a redirecting domain is usually small next to the cost of losing the links and traffic it still carries.
Does redirecting a domain affect your email?
A web redirect doesn't carry email by itself. Email delivery runs on separate DNS records, so forwarding web traffic from an old domain doesn't forward the messages sent to addresses on it.
Wix's help center warns that while DNS changes propagate, you may not receive emails connected to your domain. If you rely on email at the old domain, plan the change for a quiet period and confirm your email records afterwards.
If you're moving email along with the website, set up the new addresses and test them before you switch the old domain.
Redirect, DNS record or domain connection: which one do you need?
A redirect, a DNS record and a domain connection are three different tools, and mixing them up causes most beginner confusion.
A DNS record points a domain name at a server's address, so visitors see that server's content under your domain. A redirect sends visitors to a different address, so the address bar changes, with masked forwarding as the exception.
A domain connection links a domain you own to a site builder or host. Wix's domain connection assistant, for example, guides you through connecting a domain you bought elsewhere.
Wix connects external domains in two ways. With name servers, Wix manages the domain's DNS records, and with pointing, the DNS stays with the external host. Wix's help center says that with pointing it can't help manage DNS records hosted elsewhere, so any redirect settings that rely on those records stay with the other provider.
Choose a redirect when you want the old name to send people elsewhere, and choose a connection when you want the name to display a site itself.
How to redirect a domain name FAQ
How do I redirect a domain to another domain?
Open the old domain's forwarding or redirect settings where it's registered, enter the new domain as the destination, and choose a 301 redirect for a permanent move. Then redirect the www version and test both addresses after DNS changes spread.
Does redirecting a domain hurt SEO?
A correctly configured 301 redirect is designed to carry a move without losing search visibility, and Wix's help center says 301 redirects can keep traffic and SEO intact during a migration. Problems come from using the wrong type, such as a 302 for a permanent move, or from sending old pages to unrelated destinations.
How long does a domain redirect take to work?
Wix's help center says DNS propagation can take up to 48 hours to complete, so plan for that window before you announce the change.
Can I redirect a domain to a specific page?
Yes. Registrar forwarding tools accept a full destination URL, so you can send the domain to any page rather than only the homepage. GoDaddy's forwarding, for example, takes the destination URL you enter along with your http:// or https:// choice.
Is domain forwarding the same as a domain redirect?
Domain forwarding is the registrar-level feature that sends visitors from your domain to another URL, and it's another name for a domain redirect. Namecheap's documentation describes URL redirects as also known as URL forwarding.
What is a 301 redirect?
A 301 redirect is an HTTP status code that tells browsers and search engines a page or domain has moved permanently to a new address.
What is DNS propagation?
DNS propagation is the process of DNS record changes spreading across servers around the world after you update them. Wix's help center says it can take up to 48 hours to complete.
Redirect your domain with a 301 once the destination is live
The safest order of operations is simple. Make sure the destination works first, then set a 301 for a permanent move and test every version of the old address.
Registrars differ in labels, not in the underlying steps, so the universal checklist above applies wherever your domain lives.
If the destination domain doesn't exist yet, you can buy a domain name from Wix Domains and manage its redirects from the same account.
Comments