Sometimes there is a need to send users to a different page when they visit your domain. There are two different ways to direct traffic from one domain to another.

Domain Forward

A domain forward is the simplest way to direct traffic to a new domain. When a user visits your old domain, they will be forwarded to a new domain. Domain forwards do not pass along the slug (anything after the slash) of a URL.

For an example, there is a domain forward in place for “example.com” to forward to “sample.com“. If a user accesses “example.com/contact-us” they will be forwarded to “sample.com” (notice the “/contact-us” missing from this URL).

Most domain registrars include this feature free of charge. In some cases, a domain registrar may call this a “domain redirect”.

Hosted Redirects

Hosted redirects are redirects put in place on an .htaccess file that is placed on a hosting server. These hosted redirects can be mapped to redirect to a particular page and/or pass the slug of a URL to ensure the user is redirected to the appropriate page of a site. Another important difference to note is that sometimes domain redirects don’t properly forward HTTPS, whereas a hosted redirect can.

For an example, there is a hosted redirect in place for “example.com” to redirect to “sample.com“. If a user accesses “example.com/contact-us” they will be forwarded to “sample.com/contact-us“.

Hosted redirects are especially important if trying to maintain the SEO value from the old domain.

If you are unsure of which type of redirect will work for your application, ask your domain registrar, web host, or SEO specialist for advice.