Domain forwarding reroutes visitors to a new location. It often directs from a keyword address to your actual domain. It can showcase an element not in the domain name, mimic a competitor, or create an easier address. You may have a better domain rating or keywords to rank higher on Google.
GoDaddy Forwarding Instructions
To forward a GoDaddy domain, follow these steps:
- Login and select the domain.
- Choose domain forwarding.
- Enter the site to redirect visitors to.
- Save the changes.
DNS updates take 24-48 hours.
Forwarding masks the domain. It automatically redirects visitors. For example, move visitors from an old domain to a new hosting platform. Or use shorter, branded domains that redirect to your main site.
General Forwarding Steps
To forward a domain:
- Find your domain’s DNS settings.
- Enter the new domain name you want to forward your domain to.
- Click “OK.”
This redirects visitors to a destination URL of your choosing and keeps the destination URL in the browser address bar. If www.old.com is forwarded to www.new.com, www.old.com will display in the URL bar.
Technical Options for Advanced Users
To forward one domain to another domain you do need a web server that does the redirection for you. This may involve changing configuration files or deploying applications to cloud providers.
Under GoDaddy’s "Manage DNS" section in "Additional Settings":
- Go to "Forwarding" and click "Add".
- Type your domain in the "Source URL" field and the destination link in the "Destination URL" field.
- Save the changes.
Domain redirection forwards all pages in a domain to a different domain, as when wikipedia.com and wikipedia.net are automatically redirected to wikipedia.org.