How to Redirect Your Domain by Setting Up Web Forwarding

Web forwarding, also known as domain forwarding, is used when you want your domain name to automatically redirect visitors to another URL. It is easy to set up and it’s free.

Web forwarding can be used for redirections within your domain (for example, example.com → www.example.com) as well as redirecting your website to another domain entirely (for example, example.com → www.example.org). If your business uses several domains names, you can also use domain forwarding to direct those domains to your primary site.

Note

For the best results, the domain name in question must be using Gandi’s LiveDNS.

How to Set Up Web Forwarding to Redirect Your Domain

After clicking on the domain to enter it’s admin, choose the “Web Forwarding” tab, and then select “Create” under “Add your first web forwarding address”.

In the following form you can specify the subdomain you wish to forward from and the address you want to redirect to. You can also select which protocol to use (http, https, or both). For more explanation of the differences between these protocols see the section on HTTPS below.

You can also specify whether this is a permanent forward, a temporary forward, or a masked forward.

  • A permanent forward should be used when you have permanently moved your site, or if you intend a forward to continue indefinitely. This type of redirect signals to a search engine that the website which is forwarded to is the authoritative source for that domain.

  • A temporary forward should be used when you are temporarily forwarding your site, such as during maintenance. This signals to a search engine that this change should not be indexed because it is only temporary.

  • A masked forward will hide the destination address from users. With both a temporary and a permanent forward the user will see the final address of the forward displayed in their address bar. However, when using a masked forward the user will see the original address in the address bar no matter where they go to on the forwarded site. Be cautious when using this type of forwarding, as it is penalized by search engines. Some browsers may show the real address anyway, or even block the content altogether. Some browsers may not support frames, which are required for a masked forward to work. For most users, a temporary or permanent forward is the better option.

HTTP versus HTTPS

HTTPS is now the preferred internet protocol for most websites. HTTPS encrypts the data you send over the internet so it cannot be intercepted by a third party. In order to use HTTPS you must have an SSL certificate for your website. Gandi provides a free SSL certificate with every domain purchase. You can read more about SSL certificates in the SSL section of our documentation.

If you create a forward using the HTTPS protocol, and a free certificate is available, a certificate will be automatically generated. Be sure to activate this certificate by clicking the link in the confirmation mail you receive.

It is not possible to create a masked forward using a https link.

Note

When creating a new forward, you may want to start with HTTP, then verify that the forward is working correctly. Then, after you have verified the forward is working, you can switch to HTTPS or to the dual HTTP and HTTPS option. This approach allows you to identify any problems before an SSL certificate is put in place.

Common Web Forwards

The following domain redirects are ones commonly used that you may wish to consider adding for your website:

  • www.example.com to example.com

  • *.example.com to example.com (The * wildcard forwards anything typed in as a subdomain.)

Note

For security and technical reasons, a wildcard forward cannot be used with HTTPS.

Editing Existing Forwards

You can edit an existing web forward by following these steps:

  1. After logging in, select “Domain” from the left navigation menu.

  2. Click the name of the domain which has the web forwarding you want to edit.

  3. Click the “Web forwarding” tab.

  4. Find the existing forward in the list and click the 3 dot icon next to it. Click “Edit.” You can also select “Delete” to delete the forwarding entry completely.

  5. Make the desired changes to the forward using the form.

  6. Click “Save.”

Web Forwarding Frequent Questions

For more information on web forwarding see the web forwarding section of our faq.