Serving one site at two names.
THE SITUATION
A rebrand, a defensive registration, or a regional variant.
THE STEPS
- Point the second domain's nameservers at us, or add records pointing at your server
- In cPanel, add it as an alias to the existing domain
- Run AutoSSL, ticking the new name
- Decide what should happen when someone visits it
WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN
A permanent redirect to your main domain, in almost every case.
Serving identical content at two addresses splits search ranking and confuses visitors.
SETTING THE REDIRECT
cPanel > Redirects, or a rule in .htaccess.
Redirect to the equivalent page on the main domain, not to the homepage.
FOR A REBRAND
Redirect every old URL to its new equivalent, so links and search results continue working.
That preserves the accumulated ranking.
Decide whether the second domain should receive mail.
If not, no MX records are needed. If yes, create mailboxes or forwarders.
CERTIFICATES
Both domains need coverage, or one shows a warning.
