Find a complete guide on how to redirect an old domain to a new domain. Protect SEO and user experience properly. When you want to change domains, redirecting the old domain to the new domain is an important step. This domain redirect ensures that visitors and search engines stay connected to relevant content on your new domain.
However, this redirect process requires special steps and some preparation so that the redirect process goes well and doesn't have a negative impact on SEO and user experience.
So, in this article we will discuss the steps for redirecting an old domain to a new domain along with an explanation of what a domain redirect is and why you should redirect a domain.
Before proceeding to the tutorial on how to redirect an old domain to a new one, it's a good idea to know what a domain redirect means. The following is an explanation of redirect domains and the full reasons.
What are Redirect Domains?
Domain redirect is the process of redirecting user traffic from one domain to another. When someone accesses the redirected domain, they will be automatically redirected to the new page or URL. Domain redirects can be done for various reasons, such as changing brands, moving websites, changing URL structures, or combining several websites into one.
Why Need to Redirect Domain?
There are several reasons why website owners redirect domains, including the following:
- Rebranding: When a company is rebranding, they may need to change their domain name.
- Website Migration: When a website is moved to a new domain, domain redirects ensure that user traffic from the old domain remains directed to the new domain.
- URL Structure Changes: Domain redirects ensure that users accessing the old URL will be redirected to the new and relevant URL.
- Merging Websites: If two or more websites are combined into one, a domain redirect is used to redirect users who access the old domains to the new website that has been combined.
- Avoid Duplicate Content: Domain redirects can be used to avoid duplicate content. So domain redirects can direct users to the selected URL to reduce content duplication problems.
Preparation Before Redirecting
Before doing a domain redirect or domain transfer, there are several preparations that need to be made so that the process runs smoothly. Here are some preparations that need to be made before doing a domain redirect:
1. Setting up a New Domain
If you are going to do a domain redirect to a new domain, the first step that needs to be done is to prepare the new domain. You can choose cheap or expensive domains according to your needs.
Make sure the new domain is registered and ready to use. You also need to configure the new domain properly, including DNS settings and choose the appropriate hosting.
2. Understand the Redirect Types Available
There are several types of redirects that can be used, such as 301 redirects, 302 redirects, and meta refresh. It is important to understand the differences between these types of redirects in order to choose the one that best suits your needs.
The most commonly used redirect is the 301 redirect, which is a permanent redirect and is best suited for permanent domain or URL changes.
How to Redirect Old Domain to New Domain Using cPanel
If you use cPanel as your hosting control panel, here are the steps to redirect a domain using the Redirects feature in cPanel:
Step 1: Login to your cPanel account using the login information provided by your hosting provider.
Step 2: After successfully logging in, find and click the “Redirects” or “Redirect” icon in the “Domains” or “Advanced” section of your cPanel interface. This feature may vary depending on the version of cPanel you are using.
Step 3: On the Redirects page, you will see an option to create a new redirect. Select the domain you want to redirect from the drop-down menu.
Step 4: After selecting the domain, you need to choose the type of redirect you want to use. Select "Permanent (301)" if you want to do a permanent redirect, or "Temporary (302)" if you only want to do a temporary redirect.
Step 5: Next, enter the URL you want to redirect from the selected domain. For example, if you want to redirect from “olddomain.com/path1” to “newdomain.com”, then enter “path1” in the appropriate field.
Step 6: Then, enter the destination URL that you want to redirect the visitor to. In the example above, enter “http://newdomain.com” in the “Redirects to” field.
Step 7: If you want to set redirects with or without “www”, you can check the “www. redirection” according to your wishes.
Step 8: If you want to set redirects for all paths or URLs under the selected domain, you can check the “Wild Card Redirect” box.
Step 9: After you have configured all the options according to your needs, click the “Add” or “Create Redirect” button to create a redirect.
Step 10: Your domain redirect is now configured. When visitors access the redirected domain, they will be redirected to the destination URL you specified.
How to Redirect Old Domain to New Domain Using .htaccess
Apart from going through cPanel, you can also do a domain redirect using the .htaccess file, here are the steps:
Step 1: Create an .htaccess file on your computer using a text editor such as Notepad. Make sure you save the file as “.htaccess” (with a dot in front) and not “.htaccess.txt”.
Step 2: Next, add the redirect code to the .htaccess file according to the type of redirect you want. Here is an example code to do a 301 redirect (permanent redirect):
RewriteEngine OnRewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^olddomain.com [NC,OR]RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.olddomain.com [NC]RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://newdomain.com/$1 [L,R=301]
Step 3: In the example above, replace “olddomain.com” with the domain you want to redirect to, and replace “newdomain.com” with the redirect destination URL.
Step 4: After adding the redirect code, save the .htaccess file.
Step 5: Next, you need to upload the .htaccess file to your hosting server. You can use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or file manager provided by your hosting provider. Make sure the .htaccess file is uploaded to the root directory of the domain you want to redirect to.
Step 6: Once the .htaccess file is uploaded, try to access the domain you want to redirect to. Visitors will be redirected to the destination URL according to the redirect code that you added to the .htaccess file.
How to Redirect Domains Using WordPress Plugins
If you use WordPress as a platform for your website, you can use a redirect plugin to redirect the domain. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Login to your WordPress dashboard.
Step 2: On the left menu, select “Plugins” and then click “Add New” to install the redirect plugin.
Step 3: On the “Add Plugins” page, search for the redirect plugin using the keyword “redirect”. Some popular plugins that you can use are “Redirection”, “Simple 301 Redirects”, or “Safe Redirect Manager”. Select the plugin you want and click “Install Now”.
Step 4: After the plugin is installed, activate the plugin by clicking "Activate".
Step 5: After the plugin is active, you will see a new menu on your WordPress dashboard regarding the redirect plugin that you installed. Usually, this menu is called "Redirects" or "Redirection".
Step 6: Select the “Redirects” menu to start configuring your redirect domain. Within this menu, you will find the option to add a new redirect rule.
Step 7: Add a new redirect rule by filling in the origin URL (the domain you want to redirect to) and the destination URL (the redirect destination domain). Make sure you choose the appropriate redirect type, such as 301 (permanent redirect) or 302 (temporary redirect), depending on your needs.
Step 8: After you have configured the redirect rule, save the changes you made.
Step 9: Now, try to access the domain which you want to redirect. Visitors will be automatically redirected to the destination URL according to the rules you configured using the redirect plugin.
Conclusion
Redirecting an old domain to a new domain is an important step in ensuring both visitors and Search Engines stay connected with relevant content on the new domain. Redirects that are done correctly can also help maintain website SEO.