Domain Redirect Setup: A Step-by-Step Guide for Irish Businesses

To redirect one domain to another, you create a permanent (301) redirect from every old address to its matching new address, using your registrar’s forwarding tool, your hosting control panel or a rule at your DNS and security layer. Then you test it, in a browser and on your phone. Done properly, visitors and Google both end up on the new site, and your search rankings largely carry across.

This guide walks through the three common ways to do it, which one suits which situation, how to avoid the mistakes that break a redirect, and what to do if you are changing domain for good and want to protect your SEO.

TL;DR

• Use a 301 (permanent) redirect when the old domain is retiring for good, and a 302 only for something temporary.
• Redirect to the final address in one hop: http://old.ie/page should go straight to https://www.new.ie/page, not through a chain.
• Registrar forwarding is the simplest option for a spare domain. .htaccess or a server rule gives you page-by-page control for a real domain change.
• Get HTTPS working on both domains first, then test every important URL before and after.
• Keep the old domain registered and the redirects live. Letting it lapse breaks every old link and bookmark.

Table of Contents

• Three things people call a “redirect”
• Before you start: five checks
• Which method should you use?
• Method 1: forward the domain at your registrar
• Method 2: set up a 301 redirect in .htaccess
• Method 3: a redirect rule at your DNS or security layer
• 301 or 302: which status code?
• Changing domain without losing your SEO
• How to test a domain redirect
• Common problems and how to fix them
• Keep a record of your redirects
• Need a hand with the move?
• Our view: treat the redirect as part of the website, not an extra
• FAQ
• Sources

Three things people call a “redirect”

Most confusion comes from three different mechanisms sharing one name. Knowing which one you need saves hours.

DNS pointing. DNS translates a domain name into the address of a server. DNS records such as A and CNAME only tell browsers where to find a server. They do not change the address in the visitor’s browser bar, and as F5’s technical guidance on CNAME behaviour explains, only an HTTP redirect can actually change the requested URL. If you simply point old.ie at the same server as new.ie, both domains show the same website, which is a duplicate, not a redirect.

Domain forwarding. This is the registrar’s friendly name for a redirect. You type in where the old domain should go, and the registrar runs a small web server that answers with a redirect. Behind the scenes it is still an HTTP redirect, but you manage it with a form instead of code. One practical rule: URL redirect records generally cannot sit alongside A or CNAME records on the same hostname, so you may need to remove the existing records first.

HTTP redirect. This happens at the web server, after the visitor has reached it. The server replies with a status code (301, 302, 308) and a new location, and the browser follows. Server-side redirects are usually written in an Apache .htaccess file or in Nginx server configuration. This is the method that gives you control over individual pages.

Before you start: five checks

A ten-minute prep job prevents most redirect problems.

1. Decide the final address. Pick one version of the new site, for example https://www.new.ie, and send everything there. Mixing www and non-www, or http and https, is how chains and loops start.
2. List the old URLs that matter. Your homepage, service pages, contact page and anything that gets traffic or links. Your analytics or Google Search Console will show you the busiest.
3. Map old to new. If page addresses are changing as well as the domain, write a simple two-column list: old URL, new URL.
4. Sort HTTPS on both domains. Visitors still arrive at http://old.ie or https://old.ie, so the old domain needs a working certificate too. Otherwise people see a security warning before the redirect can happen. If SSL is new to you, our piece on why free SSL is not set and forget covers the renewal side.
5. Back up. Before touching .htaccess, save a copy of the file so you can revert if something goes wrong.

If you are unsure how your domain, hosting and website relate to each other, read domain vs hosting: what’s the difference for an Irish business first. It makes the next steps much clearer.

Which method should you use?

The rule of thumb: if you only own the extra domain to catch stray traffic, forwarding is fine. If the old domain has customers, links and search rankings attached, use server-level rules and map the pages.

Method 1: forward the domain at your registrar

The steps differ slightly between providers, but the pattern is the same everywhere. As an example, one Irish host’s guidance has you open the domain under the forwarding section of the client area, choose 301 or 302, enter the full destination URL and then update DNS so the domain points to the forwarding server.

In general:

1. Log in to wherever the domain is registered (not necessarily where the website is hosted).
2. Open the domain’s management or DNS settings and find the forwarding or redirect option.
3. Enter the full destination, including https://, and the www if that is your chosen version.
4. Choose permanent (301) if the move is for good.
5. Remove or change any conflicting A or CNAME record on the same hostname, if the tool tells you to.
6. Save, then wait. DNS changes can take anywhere from minutes to a few hours to show everywhere.

Two things to watch. First, simple forwarding often sends every old URL to the same destination, so old.ie/contact lands on the homepage rather than on the contact page. That is fine for a spare domain and poor for a real move. Second, check whether your registrar’s forwarding supports HTTPS for the old domain. If it does not, anyone typing https://old.ie may hit a certificate warning.

Method 2: set up a 301 redirect in .htaccess

If your website runs on Apache hosting, which is very common for WordPress and shared hosting, you can place rules in the .htaccess file in the website’s root folder. This is the usual answer to “how do I set up a 301 redirect” when you need to keep individual pages.

The simplest version sends every request on the old domain to the same path on the new one:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(www\.)?old-domain\.ie$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.new-domain.ie/$1 [R=301,L]

Read it in plain English: if the request is for old-domain.ie or www.old-domain.ie, send a permanent redirect to the same path on https://www.new-domain.ie. The $1 is what keeps /contact going to /contact.

For pages whose addresses changed, add specific lines above the general rule:

Redirect 301 /old-services-page https://www.new-domain.ie/services

Order matters. Specific rules go first, the catch-all goes last. One typo in this file can take the whole site offline, which is why the backup step above is not optional. If you are not comfortable editing server files, this is the point to ask whoever manages your site to do it. Nginx sites use a different syntax in the server configuration, and managed platforms often hide this behind a redirects screen.

Method 3: a redirect rule at your DNS or security layer

Many Irish businesses now manage their DNS through a service that also sits in front of the website. These can redirect without touching the web server at all. In Cloudflare, for example, the documented approach for moving a whole domain is to create a redirect rule matching the old hostname with a wildcard and set the target to the new domain with status 301. That example covers subdomains and paths, but sends them all to the new domain’s root, so it suits a consolidation more than a page-by-page migration. For page-level mapping you need rules that carry the path across.

Whatever the tool, check three things: that the rule matches both http and https, that it covers www and the bare domain, and that the status code is 301 rather than the default temporary option.

301 or 302: which status code?

A 301 says “this has moved permanently”. A 302 says “this is temporarily elsewhere, keep the original”. Google treats 301 and 308 as permanent redirects and uses them as a signal that the target should be the canonical address. For a domain change, use 301 (or 308). Use 302 only if you genuinely plan to bring the old address back, such as a short maintenance period or a seasonal campaign page.

Changing domain without losing your SEO

This is the part that worries most owners, and the reassuring news is that the mechanics are well documented. Google recommends server-side permanent redirects such as 301 or 308 for site moves, and says permanent redirects do not cause a loss in PageRank. Rankings can still wobble for a while as Google re-processes everything, so plan for that rather than being surprised by it.

A sensible sequence for a domain change:

1. Build and test the new site first, with the same content and, where possible, the same page structure.
2. Pick a quiet period. Google suggests timing a move for lower-traffic periods where possible. For a seasonal trade, such as heating engineers, avoid the autumn rush.
3. Map every important old URL to its closest new equivalent. Redirecting everything to the homepage looks lazy to both visitors and search engines and wastes the value of your best pages.
4. Switch the redirects on and test immediately.
5. Update what you control: Google Business Profile website link, social profiles, email signatures, invoices, directory listings, and any ads.
6. Ask the sites linking to you to update their links, starting with your best ones.
7. Keep the old domain registered and redirecting. If you let it lapse, someone else can buy it, and every old link goes dead.

If your Google Business Profile or local listings carry your web address, update them early. For local businesses, that profile is often where new customers click first. Our local SEO guide for Irish businesses explains what else should point at the new address.

Don’t change domain, design and content all in one weekend if you can avoid it. Moving the domain alone is a contained job that is easy to check. Combining it with a full rebuild makes it hard to tell what caused any dip. If a redesign is the real reason for the move, see how a website redesign for an Irish business can be planned so the redirects are part of the project, not an afterthought.

How to test a domain redirect

Never assume it works. Test on a phone using mobile data (so you are not seeing a cached version) and on a laptop in a private window.

• Type each of these and confirm each lands on your final address: http://old.ie, https://old.ie, http://www.old.ie, https://www.old.ie.
• Try three or four deep pages, not just the homepage, such as old.ie/contact.
• Look at the padlock on the final page. A warning means a certificate or mixed-content problem.
• Use a free header checker or your browser’s developer tools (Network tab) to see the status codes. You want a single 301 followed by a 200 on the final page.
• Check Google Search Console in the following weeks for crawl errors and 404s on the old URLs.

Common problems and how to fix them

Redirect loop (“too many redirects”). Two rules are sending visitors back and forth, typically a www rule fighting an http to https rule, or a CMS setting that disagrees with the server. Remove one layer of redirect, then re-test. Check for loops after switching HTTPS on.

Redirect chains. Old goes to a middle address which goes to the final one. Google advises you redirect directly to the final destination and, if you cannot, keep chains short, ideally no more than three hops and fewer than five. Every extra hop slows the page and risks a break.

Certificate warnings on the old domain. Enable TLS for every hostname visitors will use, confirm the certificate covers them, and only then switch on a permanent HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect. Also look for mixed-content warnings once HTTPS is active.

Everything lands on the homepage. The rule drops the path. Add $1 (or the equivalent) so paths carry over, or write specific page rules.

Redirect works for you but not others. Your browser cached an old response, or DNS has not fully updated. Test from another network and device.

Email stops working. Redirecting a website does not move email. Mail is handled by separate DNS records (MX), so change the website redirect without touching those, and plan the email move as its own task.

Keep a record of your redirects

Redirects are invisible once they work, which is exactly why they get forgotten. Keep a simple log: the old URL, the new URL, the date, who set it up and where the rule lives (registrar, server file or DNS service). The same discipline that ops teams use with shift handover notes applies here: whoever touches the site next needs to know what is live and why. Add a calendar reminder to confirm the old domain’s renewal date, and include a redirect test in your regular site checks, like the ones in our website maintenance checklist.

Need a hand with the move?

If you would rather not edit server files or worry about HTTPS on two domains, we set up domains, business email, redirects and hosting as part of our website projects. Our Launch Website starts at €499, the Business Website is €799 and the Growth Website is from €1,295, with Website Care at €29 per month for hosting and technical upkeep. Full details are on our pricing page.

If you already have a site and are moving it, our domain and website redesign service covers the redirect mapping so your existing visitors find you at the new address.

Our view: treat the redirect as part of the website, not an extra

In our experience, redirects get mishandled when they are treated as a quick technical favour at the end of a project. A new business owner picks a domain, later changes the name, and a year on there are two domains, three versions of the homepage and a Google Business Profile pointing at the oldest one.

We build for Irish small businesses, and our approach is to keep this plain. Decide the one address your business will use. Set up the domain, email and redirects together, on day one, so that every other version quietly leads to that address. Keep the technical care on a fixed monthly plan, so certificates, hosting and redirects do not depend on someone remembering them. You also deal directly with the person building your site, so if a redirect looks wrong, you ask one person and get an answer without a ticket system.

The businesses we meet rarely need anything exotic. They need one clear 301 per page, a working padlock and a note of what was done. That is a small job when planned, and a stressful one when your phone stops ringing after a rushed domain switch.

— niall

FAQ

How do I redirect a domain to another website?

Log in where the domain is registered, find the forwarding or redirect option, enter the full destination URL and choose a permanent 301. If the domain has real pages and traffic, use server rules instead so each page maps to its new equivalent. Always test the result afterwards.

Will changing domain hurt my SEO?

A properly mapped 301 redirect passes your pages’ standing to the new address, and Google states that permanent redirects do not cause a loss in PageRank. You may still see temporary ranking movement while Google processes the move, so choose a quiet period and monitor Search Console.

How long should I keep the old domain redirecting?

For as long as the old domain has links, bookmarks or printed material pointing at it, which in practice means keep it registered and redirecting indefinitely. The annual renewal fee is small compared with the cost of losing those visitors.

What is the difference between a 301 and a 302 redirect?

A 301 tells browsers and search engines the move is permanent, so the new address replaces the old one. A 302 says the move is temporary and the original stays in place. For a domain change, use 301.

Can I redirect a domain without a website or hosting?

Yes. Registrar forwarding works without hosting, because the registrar’s own server answers the request and sends the visitor on. It cannot map individual pages, so it suits a spare domain more than a full website move.

Sources

• Site Moves and Migrations, Google Search Central
• Redirects and Google Search, Google Search Central
• Redirect requests for a domain to a new domain, Cloudflare Docs
• Understanding why DNS CNAME redirection does not change the URL, F5
• How to redirect a URL to another URL, Replug
• Redirects 101: a beginner’s guide, Search Engine Land
• Getting started with web hosting, Silurian Docs
• How to set up website and email forwarders, Hosting Ireland
• Shift handover notes template

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• Stop Landing in Spam, 7 Steps to Set Up Business Email for Irish SMEs
• How to Choose a Domain Name for Your Irish Business
• Domain vs Hosting: What’s the Difference for an Irish Business?