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How to Setup a Domain Redirect in GoDaddy

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Dave Warfel

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3 minutes

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Many businesses buy several domain names to manage their brand. You might have a few variations of your business name, a .com and a .org version, or perhaps you’ve sprung for one of the new .TLDs in addition to your primary .com domain.

Whatever the case may be, if you find yourself needing to redirect one of those domains in your GoDaddy account, I’ll show you how it’s done. This works great for:

  • redirecting domain.org to domain.com (or vice versa)
  • redirecting a longer domain name to a similar, shorter one (or vice versa)
  • using a short, memorable domain name on a business card or publication and having it redirect to your company’s official website

Alright, let’s get into it.

Redirect Your GoDaddy Domain Name

Access Your Domains

You’ll first need to login to your GoDaddy account using the Sign In link in the top-right corner at godaddy.com.

GoDaddy sign in link in header
Click the “Sign In” link at godaddy.com

Next, click on your name. This will open a large dropdown menu. Click on the Visit My Account button.

GoDaddy account dropdown menu
Click the “Visit My Account” button

You should see a list of all domain names you have registered with GoDaddy.

If you see the domain you want to redirect, you can click directly on the Manage button.

If not, click on Manage All at the top. You’ll then be taken to a list of all your domains. Find the domain you want to redirect and click on it. (it’ll look like this)

GoDaddy "My Products" list.
If you see your domain, click the “Manage” button next to it. Otherwise, choose “Manage All.”

This will open up your Domain Settings screen. Click the “Use My Domain” button at the top.

GoDaddy's use my domain button
Giant blue button. Can’t miss it!

You’ll be presented with a few options:
Options may vary slightly.

  1. Build a new website
  2. Setup a new email account
  3. Connect to an existing site
GoDaddy domain, three options
You want to connect to an existing site

For redirecting your domain, you want to choose “Connect to an existing site.”

Here’s where you’ll be given a list of options for the destination that you want to redirect your domain to. Scroll all the way to the bottom and find Forward to Any Site.

Enter the domain you’d like to redirect to, and click Next.

GoDaddy domain forwarding box
Enter the domain you’d like to forward to.

Confirm you typed in the correct domain, and click Finish.

That’s it! Now you’ve successfully redirected a domain in your GoDaddy account.

Confirm Redirect Was Setup Properly

If you want to confirm that your redirect is setup properly…

  1. Navigate back to your Domain Settings page
  2. Scroll to the bottom and click on Manage DNS
  3. Scroll down until you see the Forwarding section
  4. Double-check your forwarding domain is listed properly
Confirm GoDaddy domain forwarding
You can confirm your domain forwarding here.

GoDaddy has updated their My Account area quite a bit over the past few years, so your screen might look a little different. It also depends on the type of account you have, as well as the products you have in it.

So if you have any trouble setting up a domain redirect in GoDaddy, please let me know in the comments. I’ll help out the best I can.

Dave Warfel

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Dave has been working with WordPress since 2011. He's built 100s of client sites and almost a dozen of his own. He's tested almost every plugin you can think of, hosted with at least 10 different companies, and gone down every SEO rabbit hole you can imagine. When's he's not tinkering with new software, you'll find him in the mountains of Colorado, trail running, summiting peaks, and rippin' downhills on his mountain bike. 🏔️🏃🚴🤸

8 responses to “How to Setup a Domain Redirect in GoDaddy”

  1. Tunde Sanusi Avatar
    Tunde Sanusi

    I created a redirect for an existing site to another. But only the homepage works..

    The previous links i’ve shared on social media does not work

    1. Dave Warfel Avatar

      Tunde — Setting up a domain redirect this way will make all your old links redirect to your homepage. In order to have your old links point to the corresponding page on your new site, you’ll need to add redirects for each and every link. Check with your hosting company to see if they offer this feature (some do, some don’t).

      If your hosting company doesn’t offer it, you can look into a WordPress plugin that can do it for you. My preference is the “Redirection” plugin.

  2. Charlie Avatar
    Charlie

    Thanks for the article with all the screenshots! My problem is that, on the “Connect to an existing site” page, I don’t see the “Forward to any site” option at the bottom. I am only given have 3 categories with choices: Websites (Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Tumblr), Online shops (Shopify), and Networks (Smugmug). That’s the entire page – no other options, not even to connect to Facebook, which, incidentally, is actually all I want to do. Is this because of the type of account I have? Or is this a new GoDaddy bug? Thanks in advance for any advice!

    1. Dave Warfel Avatar

      Charlie,

      Do you manage your DNS elsewhere? Have you edited your DNS records at all?

      That’s the only thing I can think of why you might not have that option. I just tested it now, and I have Websites, Social Sites, Online Stores, Media Sites, and “Forward to any site.”

      But maybe they don’t give you option to forward to any site if you manage the DNS elsewhere.

  3. Sebastian Avatar
    Sebastian

    I also had the problem of not seeing the option to “Forward to any site” until i verified my email, as I was using a new account. After that the option and many more appeared.

  4. Jerry Avatar
    Jerry

    Outdated, the site after you select manage, none of these options are the same anymore.

  5. Grant Avatar
    Grant

    Does this only redirect/forward HTTP/HTTPS traffic?

    1. Dave Warfel Avatar

      It should forward both HTTP and HTTPS traffic. I’m not sure what other type of traffic you might be referring to.

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