A domain redirect is a URL redirect that sends all traffic arriving at one domain to a different domain automatically. When a visitor types or clicks a URL on the redirected domain, they are forwarded to the destination domain without any action required. The original domain acts as an entry point receiving the visit and immediately passing it on.

Domain redirects are one of the most common redirect use cases on the web. Every time a company rebrands and moves to a new domain, every time a parked domain forwards to a primary site, every time HTTP traffic is sent to HTTPS, or every time the www version of a site sends visitors to the non-www version, a domain-level redirect is involved.

Understanding how to set up domain redirects correctly (with the right HTTP status code, full HTTPS support, and proper handling of all URL variants) is fundamental to maintaining a healthy web presence across multiple domains.

How a domain redirect works

A domain redirect operates through the standard HTTP redirect mechanism. When a browser or web crawler makes a request to a domain that has a redirect in place, the server at that domain responds with a 3xx status code and a Location header pointing to the destination. The browser follows the location and loads the page at the destination domain.

For a domain redirect to work, two things need to be in place. First, the DNS records for the redirected domain must point to a server, either your own infrastructure or a redirect management service, that is capable of receiving HTTP requests and responding with the appropriate redirect. Second, that server must be configured to respond to all incoming requests with the correct redirect response pointing to the destination domain.

This is an important distinction from simple DNS forwarding. DNS operates at the network level and routes traffic to an IP address, it does not speak HTTP and cannot issue HTTP redirects on its own. A domain redirect requires an actual HTTP server at the other end, even if that server does nothing except respond with a redirect.

Types of domain redirects

Domain redirects vary in scope and complexity depending on how much path information is preserved through the redirect.

Domain-level global redirect: the simplest form. All traffic arriving at the redirected domain is sent to the destination domain’s homepage or a single destination URL regardless of the path requested. olddomain.com/anything and olddomain.com/other-page both go to newdomain.com. This is the approach used for domain parking, simple brand protection redirects, and cases where the old domain’s content structure does not map to the new domain.

Path-preserving domain redirect: a more sophisticated setup where the path from the original URL is appended to the destination domain. A visitor requesting olddomain.com/about is redirected to newdomain.com/about. olddomain.com/blog/post-title goes to newdomain.com/blog/post-title. This approach is used in domain migrations where the URL structure of the new domain mirrors the old one, and is significantly better for preserving SEO equity from path-level backlinks.

Path-mapped domain redirect: the most granular setup. Individual paths on the old domain are mapped to specific URLs on the new domain that may have a different structure. olddomain.com/services goes to newdomain.com/what-we-do. olddomain.com/about-us goes to newdomain.com/our-story. This requires defining rules for each path mapping and is used in domain migrations where the URL structure has changed alongside the domain.

Domain redirects and HTTPS

HTTPS handling is the most critical technical consideration in any domain redirect setup. A domain redirect that does not properly handle HTTPS creates a broken or insecure experience for visitors and a negative signal for search engines.

For a domain redirect to serve all visitors correctly over HTTPS, the redirected domain needs a valid SSL certificate. When a visitor types https://olddomain.com in their browser, the browser establishes an HTTPS connection before it can receive the redirect response. If the server at olddomain.com does not have a valid SSL certificate, the browser shows a certificate error before the redirect can happen. The visitor sees a security warning rather than being smoothly forwarded to the destination.

This is the most significant limitation of domain registrar forwarding services. Most registrar forwarding operates over HTTP only, with no SSL certificate on the forwarding domain. Any visitor typing https://olddomain.com or clicking an HTTPS link to the old domain gets a certificate error rather than a clean redirect.

A complete domain redirect setup handles all four variants of the domain:

• http://olddomain.com → https://newdomain.com

• https://olddomain.com → https://newdomain.com

• http://www.olddomain.com → https://newdomain.com

• https://www.olddomain.com → https://newdomain.com

Every variant must redirect correctly. Missing any one of them means some visitors and crawlers do not reach the destination cleanly.

Domain redirects and SEO

Domain redirects have a direct and significant impact on SEO. Handled correctly they preserve and consolidate the search authority built up on the redirected domain. Handled incorrectly they fragment that authority, create duplicate content issues, or lose it entirely.

SEO equity transfer: a 301 redirect from an old domain transfers link juice and ranking signals from backlinks pointing to the old domain to the destination. Over time search engines update their index to reflect the new domain as the canonical address for that content. Without a 301, incoming links to the old domain pass nothing to the new one.

Duplicate content prevention: if both the old domain and the new domain are serving content simultaneously without a redirect between them, search engines see the same content at two different domains. This splits authority between them and can trigger duplicate content penalties. A domain redirect consolidates everything under the destination domain.

Index consolidation: after a permanent redirect is in place, search engines gradually remove the old domain’s URLs from their index and replace them with the equivalent URLs on the destination domain. The speed of this process depends on how frequently Googlebot crawls the affected URLs and how well established the destination domain is.

Path-level specificity: a global redirect that sends all old domain traffic to the destination homepage consolidates domain-level authority but loses path-level link juice. A backlink pointing to olddomain.com/specific-page forwards to newdomain.com rather than to the specific equivalent page. Path-preserving or path-mapped redirects are significantly better for preserving the full SEO value of the old domain.

Common use cases for domain redirects

Domain rebranding - a company changes its name and moves to a new domain. All traffic and links pointing to the old domain need to be forwarded to the new one permanently. This is one of the highest-stakes domain redirect scenarios because the old domain may have years of accumulated SEO equity and backlinks that need to be preserved.

Company mergers - two companies merge and one domain is retired in favour of the other. The acquired company’s domain redirects to the acquiring company’s site, preserving link equity from both domains and ensuring visitors of either brand reach the combined entity.

Domain parking - parked domains that are not actively hosting content forward to a primary domain. This covers typo domains, alternative TLDs, old brand names, and any other domains registered for brand protection purposes.

HTTP to HTTPS migration - redirecting all HTTP traffic to HTTPS is technically a domain-level redirect for the HTTP version of the domain. Every URL on http://example.com permanently redirects to its equivalent on https://example.com.

WWW to non-WWW - choosing one canonical version of a domain and redirecting the other. www.example.com redirects to example.com or vice versa, consolidating authority under the preferred version and preventing duplicate content.

Apex domain to subdomain - redirecting the root domain to a subdomain, typically www. example.com redirects to www.example.com. Less common than the reverse but still a valid canonical domain structure used by some organisations.

Domain consolidation - a business with multiple active domains serving similar content consolidates them under a single primary domain. All secondary domains redirect to the primary, concentrating authority and providing a unified experience.

Setting up a domain redirect correctly

A properly configured domain redirect requires attention to several details that are easy to overlook.

Use a 301 redirect for permanent moves: any domain redirect that is intended to be permanent must use a 301. A 302 or other temporary redirect code means search engines keep indexing the old domain and do not transfer SEO equity to the destination.

Handle all URL variants: configure redirects for both HTTP and HTTPS, both www and non-www, and any other variants the domain is accessible under. Missing a variant means some traffic does not reach the destination correctly.

Provision SSL on the redirected domain: the redirected domain needs a valid SSL certificate to handle HTTPS connections before issuing the redirect. Without SSL, visitors using HTTPS links to the old domain see certificate errors.

Redirect to the correct destination path: where the old domain’s URL structure maps to the new domain, use path-preserving or path-mapped redirects rather than sending everything to the homepage. This preserves path-level link equity and provides a better experience for visitors following specific links.

Verify destinations return 200 OK: confirm that every redirect destination is live and returning a 200 before activating the domain redirect. A redirect pointing to a 404 or 500 sends visitors to a dead end.

Avoid redirect chains, if the destination domain has its own redirects (such as HTTP to HTTPS or non-www to www) ensure the domain redirect points directly to the final canonical URL to avoid multi-hop chains.

Keep the redirected domain registered: domain redirects only work as long as the domain is registered and its DNS records are pointing to the redirect server. Letting a redirected domain expire breaks all incoming links and bookmarks pointing to it. Maintain registration of redirected domains for as long as those links remain valuable.

Domain redirects vs subdomain redirects

A domain redirect operates at the top-level domain olddomain.com to newdomain.com. A subdomain redirect operates at the subdomain level (e.g., fromold.example.com to new.example.com or example.com). The mechanics are identical, both use HTTP redirects with 3xx status codes, but the scope differs.

Subdomain redirects are commonly used when consolidating multiple subdomains under a single domain, moving from a subdomain-based structure to a path-based structure, or retiring specific subdomains while keeping the root domain active. The same principles apply: use the correct status code, handle HTTPS, verify destinations.