Can you point another domain at my website?

How do I point a domain at my website?

1. Find where the domain’s DNS lives. Look it up at ICANN Lookup and read the name servers.
2. Ask your web host to set up the domain first. Before any DNS changes, the host should add the domain to your hosting, prepare the 301 redirect to your main domain and plan its SSL certificate (some certificates can only be issued once DNS points there). You’ll get an IP address for an A record, a name for a CNAME, or both.
3. Save a copy of the current records before changing anything.
4. Update the bare domain (@). Edit the A record, or add one, with the value your host gave you.
5. Update www. Edit or add the www record the same way.
6. Check for an AAAA record. If the old domain has one, update or remove it as the host says, or visitors on IPv6 still reach the old server.
7. Leave MX and TXT records alone. They run the domain’s email and prove ownership to other services.
8. Ask the host to confirm the redirect and certificate are working now that DNS points there.
9. Test. Visit the old address with and without www, and with https, on Wi-Fi and on mobile data (which often uses IPv6). Each should land on the main site with the padlock showing.

Expected result: typing the old address takes you straight to the right page on your main site.

These steps are for managing your own DNS. They follow Cloudflare’s guide to creating DNS records. Other providers use similar screens with different labels.

The short version

• Redirect an extra or old domain to your main site with a permanent 301 redirect.
• Keep that domain renewed, and leave its email records alone.

What can be pointed at my website?

There are three usual cases:

You have	What to do
An old domain from before a rebrand	Redirect each old page to its closest match on the new site. If a page has no replacement, let it return “not found” rather than sending it to the home page
Extra versions (.net, a misspelling, a short name)	Redirect them all to the main domain
A short path for print or radio, like /support or /donate	Redirect that path to the right page, even on another site such as a donation platform

Why redirect instead of showing the same site twice?

Two domains showing the same pages split your visitors and confuse search engines. One address with redirects keeps everything in one place. Google’s guide on redirects and Google Search says 301 and 308 codes mean a page has permanently moved, and that a server-side redirect “has the highest chance of being interpreted correctly by Google.” Meta refresh and JavaScript redirects are fallbacks only.

What are the common mistakes and edge cases?

• Redirecting everything to the home page. If the old domain had pages people bookmarked, point each one to its closest match. Our answer on keeping rankings in a redesign explains why.
• A short link that goes to the wrong place. Redirects sometimes land on the home page instead of the target. Always click the link after it’s set up.
• No certificate on the old domain. Visitors typing https://olddomain.com get a warning before the redirect happens. The redirect domain needs SSL too. See why does my site say “Not Secure”.
• www works but the bare domain doesn’t. One of the two records is missing or still points to the old host.
• Email on the old domain. If staff still get mail at the old domain, its MX records must stay. Removing them stops that mail.
• Letting it lapse. If the extra domain expires, the redirect stops and someone else can register it. See when does my domain renew.
• The host asks you to change name servers. That moves all of the domain’s DNS, including email records. Make sure those records are copied across first.

What if this didn’t work?

1. Put the old values back from your saved copy while you work it out.
2. Check you edited the right place. If the name servers belong to one company, changes made at another company do nothing.
3. Give it time. DNS changes spread at different speeds. Read how long DNS changes take.
4. If email stopped, compare the MX and TXT records with your copy and restore anything that changed. Then see why am I not receiving email.

How long does it take?

Setting up the records and the redirect is a short job once you have access to the right accounts. The change then spreads as older copies of your DNS records expire, which depends on each record’s TTL (time to live) setting. Most delays come from finding who controls the domain. See who owns my domain, and who do I call.

How does E-3 handle this?

Yes, E-3 can point another domain or a short link at your website. Tell us:

• the domain or short path you want redirected;
• where it should go: your home page, a specific page, or another site;
• whether anyone still uses email at that domain.

We save the domain’s existing DNS records first, then set up the 301 redirect. Please don’t send registrar passwords by email.

Email support@e3help.me, call 814-399-4655, or send a support request.

Related questions

• Can you buy a new domain name for me?
• How do I add DNS records for a new service?
• How do I change DNS safely?