What is URL redirecting / URL forwarding?

URL redirecting (also known as URL forwarding or domain forwarding) is a function which allows you to point your domain name without associated hosting at an active web site. Visitors or customers who enter www.yourdomainname.com in their browser's address bar will automatically be transferred to any active site of your choice.

Here's an example:

http://www.choose-a-domain.co.uk/ forwards to http://www.choose-a-domain.com/

Thus, customers who enter www.choose-a-domain.co.uk in their browser's address bar automatically get transferred to http://www.choose-a-domain.com/.

Who should use URL redirecting?

This is often used by those who cannot afford full professional hosting. For example if your ISP provides you with web space as part of your provision you could purchase a domain name and point it at that space.

URL redirecting is useful because it allows you to choose a more memorable domain name for your free website so that your intended audience can find you without having to remember an awkward and difficult to remember subfolder name (often ~username) within a third-party hosting address.

Here's an example:

http://www.yourdomainname.com forwards to http://www.examplefreehostingcompany.com/~username/index.html

How much does URL redirecting cost?

Although some companies make a charge for URL redirecting, Choose-a-Domain isn't one of them. URL redirecting is a 100% FREE option with all domains purchased through Choose-a-Domain.com.

How do I set-up a URL redirect?

If you are an existing client and you have already purchased your domain name, then the information on the set-up URL redirect page will show you step by step how to set-up a URL redirect for your domain. Don't forget DNS Management for domains registered or renewed through Choose-a-Domain.com is 100% FREE!

Is URL redirecting the best solution for my web site?

URL redirecting is no substitute for a fully hosted professional website. However URL redirecting can be useful to direct extra domain names to your main website, as in the above example involving http://www.choose-a-domain.co.uk/. Alternatively you might want to link specifically to a sub folder of your main site. For example you might register a domain name relating to product you offer.

Here's an example:

http://www.choose-email.com/ forwards to http://www.choose-a-domain.com/choose-email/

The thing to remember is that URL redirecting doesn't leave the domain name in the address bar. Therefore the focus is given over to the web site the browser has arrived on, thus URL redirecting doesn't allow you to present and maintain a unified branded website. Therefore we would recommend either full web hosting or URL framing / URL masking. You can find out more about URL framing / URL masking here.

How does URL redirecting work?

URL redirection works by setting up instructions on Choose-a-Domain's web servers that tell visitors' computers that the actual files for the web site they are looking for are located in a different place. The visitor is then redirected to the proper web server, in order to access the web site files.

Remember

Things to remember about URL Redirection:

• URL Redirection only takes a few seconds to set-up and is easy to do. For further instructions see set-up URL redirect.
• URL Redirection is almost instantanious. Please remember that you need an active Web page as the redirecting destination.
• URL Redirection requires you to be using our domain name servers. If you've change the DNS info associated with your domain name to servers other than those of Choose-a-Domain, you will not be able to activate URL redirecting.
• URL Redirection doesn't cost anything to set-up and it is completely free to use the URL redirecting service offered by Choose-a-Domain.

If you still have any questions why not look at the Choose-a-Domain FAQ / Knowledgebase to discover more information about URL Redirection or URL Framing.