DOMAIN NAMES

What Is a Domain Forwarder?

A domain redirect allows you to automatically redirect visitors from one domain to another website or page. When someone enters your domain name into a browser, they are sent to a different destination without any manual action. For example, visitors who open example.ma can be redirected to www.newwebsite.com. This helps avoid broken links and ensures that users always reach the right website.

This solution proves particularly useful during a visual identity redesign, a company name change, or when consolidating multiple activities under a single brand.

In addition to significantly improving the user experience, the strategic use of redirection preserves your search engine optimization (SEO). By setting up a permanent redirect (known as a 301), you transfer the link equity and authority accumulated by your old domain to the new one, thereby avoiding a sharp drop in your search engine rankings on platforms like Google.

Furthermore, this technique offers an excellent brand protection opportunity. Many companies choose to purchase various domain extensions (.com, .net, .org) or register common misspellings of their name to point them all to their primary site. It is a simple and effective way to capture all of your potential traffic, stay ahead of the competition, and provide a seamless journey for your customers, regardless of how they search for you online, thus ensuring optimal visibility and a lasting impact.

Types of Forwarding

There are two types of domain forwarding available.

• 301 (Permanent Redirect) should be used when the redirection is permanent. Search engines understand that the domain has permanently moved, and SEO value is transferred to the new destination.
• 302 (Temporary Redirect) should be used when the redirection is temporary. This is recommended if the domain will be used again later or if the redirect is only needed for a short period. Search engines do not treat this as a permanent change.

Setting up the Domain Forwarders

Log in to your client area and navigate to your domains

Select the domain you want to manage and click on the configuration icon

Open the Domain Forwarders section.

From there you can set up your new forwarder.

Understanding the Redirect Settings

• Type : this field allows you to choose between 301 (Permanent) and 302 (Temporary) forwarding, depending on your needs.
• https://(www.)? : this field is filled in automatically. It displays the domain you selected in your control panel and represents the domain that will be redirected. This field cannot be modified.
• Redirect To : this field is where you enter the full destination URL. Make sure to include https:// or http://.
• “www” Redirection : this option controls how the redirect behaves with www.
  You can choose to redirect only the www version of the domain, only the non-www version, or both versions.

If Only Redirect With “www” is selected, only www.example.com will be redirected.
               If Do Not Redirect With “www” is selected, only example.com will be redirected.
               If With or Without “www” is selected, both versions will be redirected.

• Wild Card Redirect : this option allows all pages and sub-paths to be redirected to the same paths on the destination domain.

Once you fill in all the fields, click on “+ Add Domain Forwarder ” to save your settings

Using cPanel? Check out this article to see how to set it up from your cPanel account

Important Notes

Redirect changes may take time to apply due to DNS propagation. Always verify that the destination URL is correct and active. Avoid creating redirect loops by redirecting a domain to itself.