Types of Web Redirects in cPanel and How to Make Them

What is a redirect?

A redirect is like a "we have moved" sign on a shop door. It sends people to the new address without them doing anything.

Permanent and temporary redirects

• Permanent (301): The page has moved for good. Search engines move their records to the new address.
• Temporary (302): The page is away for a short time. Search engines keep the old address.

Pick 301 if you changed your domain or page address for good. Pick 302 for short jobs, like a sale page or maintenance.

Which part of the site to redirect

You can redirect a whole domain, or one folder or page. You can also choose how www is handled.

Steps

1. Log in to your client area and open cPanel.
2. Find the Domains section and click Redirects.

   

3. Under Type, choose Permanent (301) or Temporary (302).
4. In the domain list, pick the domain to redirect.
5. In the box after the slash, type the page or folder. Leave it empty to redirect the whole domain.
6. In Redirects to, type the full new address. Include https://.
7. Under www. redirection, choose how to treat addresses with and without www. The default choice is fine for most sites.
8. Tick Wild Card Redirect only if every page under the old address should go to the new one.
9. Click Add.
10. Open the old address in a new browser window to test it.

How to remove a redirect

1. Go back to Redirects.
2. Scroll to the list at the bottom.
3. Click Delete next to the redirect.

Careful: a bad redirect can lock visitors out of your site. Make sure you do not redirect your site to itself. That makes a loop.

Quick recap

• Use 301 for permanent moves and 302 for short ones.
• Open Domains then Redirects in cPanel.
• Type the full new address with https://.
• Test in a private window.