Forward or redirect it

What domain forwarding is

Domain forwarding sends anyone who visits one domain to a different address. You own example.net, you want visitors to land on example.com, and forwarding does that. Technically it is almost always an HTTP redirect (a response in which the server answers a request with a status code and a new location, and the browser follows it).

It is the cheapest strategy on this site. Registrar URL forwarding is free with the domain at GoDaddy, Namecheap and Porkbun, Cloudflare offers redirect rules on its free plan, and the whole job is a form field and a radio button. You still pay the annual renewal, and forwarding earns nothing directly — it is a traffic-routing and brand-protection measure, not a revenue strategy.

The implementation is trivial; the judgement is not. Two decisions carry real consequences: which status code you pick, and whether the domain has any legitimate relationship to the destination. Get either wrong and you have a redirect that silently fails, or a policy violation.

The redirect types, defined precisely

These get used interchangeably in conversation. They do not behave interchangeably.

301 (Moved Permanently). An HTTP status code telling browsers and search engines the resource has moved for good. Google states: "The 301 and 308 status codes mean that a page has permanently moved to a new location." This is the correct choice for a domain you are consolidating into another. See HTTP 301.
308 (Permanent Redirect). Like a 301, but it guarantees the HTTP method is not changed. Wikipedia's list of HTTP status codes describes it as parallelling "the behavior of 301, but does not allow the HTTP method to change."
302 (Found) and 307 (Temporary Redirect). Temporary redirects. The original URL stays the one search engines show. Use these only when you genuinely intend to send the traffic back.
Registrar URL forwarding. A registrar-run service that points the domain at the registrar's own web servers, which issue the redirect for you. Most registrars let you choose permanent or temporary.
CNAME (Canonical Name record). A DNS record saying one hostname is an alias for another. It is not a redirect: the address bar keeps showing your domain, and the target must be configured to serve it. A CNAME cannot exist at the apex under standard DNS, because the apex must carry SOA and NS records that a CNAME cannot coexist with.
ALIAS / ANAME. A vendor-specific record that behaves like a CNAME but works at the apex: the provider resolves the target itself and returns the resulting address records. Not standardised — availability and naming vary, and Cloudflare calls its version CNAME flattening.

In short: consolidating permanently into another site, use a 301; pointing somewhere temporarily, a 302; serving the same site under two hostnames without changing the address bar, a CNAME, or ALIAS/ANAME at the apex.

What Google actually says

From Google Search Central, "Redirects and Google Search":

"If you need to change the URL of a page as it is shown in search engine results, we recommend that you use a permanent server-side redirect whenever possible."

The same documentation sets out the practical difference: permanent redirects show the new redirect target in search results, temporary redirects show the source page. That is the whole reason the status code matters. Rebrand using a 302 and search results keep showing the old domain; the consolidation you thought you performed never happens.

On whether a 301 "passes SEO value," Google's current framing is canonicalization, not link-juice transfer: the redirect signals which URL should be canonical, and the destination is what appears in search results. For a genuine site move, Google's site move documentation is the reference. The defensible statement is narrow — a 301 from a site you controlled to a relevant destination consolidates that URL's signals, and does not transfer value from an unrelated domain into your site.

Registrar implementations, and where they differ

Forwarding runs on shared registrar infrastructure you do not control, with no logging and no analytics. Provider differences are larger than most people expect.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy offers permanent (301), temporary (302) and masked forwarding. HTTPS is handled for you: "Forwarding over HTTPS is now automatically applied to your domain when you set up forwarding," which supersedes older advice about certificate errors. The gotcha: "Adding forwarding will automatically update and lock your @ A record." You cannot edit that record until forwarding is removed.

Namecheap

Namecheap supports 301, unmasked 302 and masked redirect records in Advanced DNS. Its HTTPS constraints are the weakness: "Redirecting with a secure connection (HTTPS) is only possible to a different destination domain," same-domain http to https redirects cannot be done with a URL redirect record at all, and cross-domain HTTPS redirects require SSL certificates on both ends.

Cloudflare

Cloudflare is the most capable free option: Single Redirects (zone level, wildcard matching, no regex), Bulk Redirects (account level, can span domains) and Snippets for JavaScript logic. Free-plan limits run to 10 Single Redirect rules per zone, and 15 Bulk Redirect rules across 5 lists holding up to 10,000 URL redirects. Both require your DNS records to be proxied through Cloudflare, which also provides CNAME flattening at the apex.

Porkbun — and a warning about its default

Porkbun offers free forwarding in three types: HTTP Temporary Redirect (302/307), the default; 301 Permanent Redirect; and masked or frame redirect, the latter two under advanced settings. Two features are genuinely useful — an option to include the requested URI path, so domain1/about reaches domain2/about, and wildcard forwarding covering the root domain and all subdomains.

The problem is what Porkbun recommends. Its knowledge base says it "recommends using this type of forwarding [temporary] since it is easily reversible and will not negatively impact SEO for the target site." That advice is wrong for a permanent consolidation or a rebrand. A temporary redirect leaves the source URL as the one shown in search results, per Google's own documentation, so anyone accepting the default while moving a brand silently fails to consolidate anything. Fine for a campaign URL; wrong for a move you intend to keep.

Why masked forwarding is always the wrong answer

Masked forwarding — also called frame or cloaked forwarding — loads the destination inside a hidden frame so the address bar keeps showing the forwarding domain. Registrars still offer it. Do not use it, for three reasons.

SEO. The destination content sits inside a frame, so the forwarding domain has nothing of its own to index and there is no redirect for Google to follow. Nothing consolidates; neither domain benefits.
Users and security. The URL bar lies. Visitors cannot see what site they are on, cannot bookmark real pages, cannot verify the destination's HTTPS certificate identity, and share links that go nowhere useful. Many sites refuse to load in frames at all because of X-Frame-Options and Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors headers — a deliberate anti-clickjacking defence. GoDaddy concedes that "some websites don't support masking and may not properly display the destination site."
Policy. Showing users and search engines different content is the definition of cloaking. Google's spam policies define sneaky redirecting as "the practice of doing this maliciously in order to either show users and search engines different content or show users unexpected content that does not fulfill their original needs."

The cases where masking seems appealing — a vanity URL, an ugly destination path — are better solved with a plain 301 or a genuine one-page site.

The expired-domain trap

This is where forwarding gets people into real trouble. Buying an expired domain for its backlinks and 301-ing it into your own site, hoping to inherit its authority, is a named violation in Google's spam policies. The wording is explicit:

"Expired domain abuse is where an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users."

Google's examples include affiliate content on a former government site, commercial medical products on a former non-profit's site, and casino content on a former school's site. The link spam and sneaky redirect provisions on the same page cover the redirect version of the trick.

Google acknowledges that legitimate reasons to redirect exist — site moves, page consolidation, login redirects — and advises examining whether a redirect is intended to deceive. That yields the test to apply before you set anything up: would the visitor who typed the old domain consider the destination a reasonable place to land? If yes, redirect. If the only reason you bought the domain was its backlinks, do not. It is a policy violation, and it usually does not work either.

What forwarding does to resale value and inquiries

On the asset: neutral. A clean 301 does not damage the domain.

On inquiries: strongly negative. A forwarded domain gives a would-be buyer no signal that it is available and no way to contact you. They type the name, land on somebody else's homepage, and leave. If you would sell the name at some price, forwarding costs you every lead it would otherwise generate. The usual compromise is to forward for the traffic while keeping a live for-sale listing at a marketplace, so buyers who look can still find it.

One long-term risk: 301 a domain into your site for years and later sell it, and the buyer inherits a name historically associated with your site. Usually harmless — but if the redirect was abusive, they inherit that too.

When to forward, and when not to

Forward when:

The domain is a defensive registration — a typo, misspelling, plural, hyphenated variant or alternate TLD of your own brand. Forward them all to the main site. This is the single best use of forwarding.
You are rebranding or changing domains. 301 the old domain to the new one and keep it renewed indefinitely. This is the textbook case Google's documentation is written for.
You need a vanity or campaign URL — a short memorable domain for print, radio or events, forwarding to a deep page. Unmasked, never masked.
You are consolidating sites you genuinely own where the content has moved.

Do not forward when, bluntly:

You bought an unrelated expired domain for its backlinks. Expired domain abuse under Google's spam policies, and it usually does not work.
The domain is a good generic you could sell. Forwarding a valuable name earns nothing and hides it from every buyer. If it does not send meaningful traffic, list it instead.
You would rather develop it. Forwarding produces no content, no rankings, no email list and no equity in the name.
The domain has an established audience and the destination is unrelated. You will lose the audience and may create a spam problem.
You are considering masking. Ever.

Common mistakes

Using 302 when you mean 301, usually by accepting the registrar's default. A temporary redirect leaves the source URL as the one shown in search results, so a permanent consolidation never consolidates. Porkbun defaults to temporary and recommends it; for a permanent move, switch to 301 under advanced settings.
Redirect chains. old.com to older.com to new.com. Point every domain directly at the final destination.
Forwarding everything to the homepage. If the old domain had real URLs with links pointing at them, map those to matching pages instead.
Not checking HTTPS behaviour. GoDaddy applies HTTPS forwarding automatically; Namecheap requires SSL certificates on both ends for a cross-domain HTTPS redirect and cannot do same-domain http to https via a URL redirect record at all.
Forgetting www or the apex. Both need to forward, and only one of them is usually tested.
Letting the forwarding domain expire. The redirect stops the day the domain drops, and anyone can then register your old brand and point it somewhere unpleasant.

Frequently asked questions

Does a 301 redirect pass SEO value?

Google frames it as canonicalization rather than value transfer. A permanent redirect signals that the target should be the canonical URL, and the target is what appears in search results. For a genuine site move or page consolidation, that means the destination takes over the old URL's place in search. It does not mean you can point an unrelated domain at your site and inherit its authority — that is a different thing entirely, and Google's spam policies address it directly under expired domain abuse and link spam.

Should I use 301 or 302 for a domain I am consolidating?

301. Google documents 301 and 308 as the permanent status codes and recommends a permanent server-side redirect whenever you need the URL shown in search results to change. A 302 leaves the source page as the one search engines display, so the consolidation you intended never takes effect. This trips people up most often at registrars that default to temporary forwarding — Porkbun's documentation actively recommends the temporary option, which is fine for a campaign URL and wrong for a rebrand.

Is masked or cloaked forwarding safe?

No. It hides the real URL from users, breaks bookmarking and HTTPS certificate identity, is blocked outright by the frame-protection headers many modern sites send, and shows users and search engines different content — which is what Google's spam policies describe as sneaky redirecting. It also consolidates nothing for SEO, because there is no redirect for a crawler to follow. Use a plain 301 instead, or build a genuine one-page site if you need the domain to have its own presence.

Can I buy an expired domain and redirect it to my site for a ranking boost?

This is what Google calls expired domain abuse: "an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to manipulate search rankings by hosting content that provides little to no value to users." The redirect version falls under the same set of spam policies, alongside link spam and sneaky redirects. It is a policy violation, and in practice it usually does not work any more. The honest test is whether a visitor who typed the old domain would consider your site a reasonable place to land.

What is the difference between a CNAME and a redirect?

A redirect is an HTTP response that sends the browser to a different address, and the address bar changes. A CNAME is a DNS record that makes one hostname an alias for another: the address bar stays on your domain, and the destination server must be configured to serve your domain. They solve different problems. A CNAME also cannot be used at a domain's apex under standard DNS, because the apex must carry SOA and NS records that a CNAME cannot coexist with.

What is an ALIAS or ANAME record?

A provider-specific DNS record that behaves like a CNAME but works at the apex of a domain, where a standard CNAME is not permitted. The DNS provider resolves the target itself and returns its address records. Neither ALIAS nor ANAME is a standardised record type, so availability and exact behaviour vary between providers, and the naming differs too — Cloudflare's equivalent is called CNAME flattening. Check what your DNS host actually supports before designing around it.

Should I forward a domain I might want to sell?

Generally no, unless it sends real traffic to your main site and that traffic is worth more than the sale. A forwarded domain gives buyers no signal that it is available and no way to reach you; they land on somebody else's homepage and leave. A for-sale lander converts the same visitor into a lead. If you want both, forward the domain for the traffic but keep an active listing at a marketplace so buyers searching for the name can still find it.

Do I have to keep the old domain registered forever after a rebrand?

In practice, yes. The redirect only functions while you own the domain. Let it lapse and you lose the residual traffic and the benefit of the links pointing at it, and anyone can register the name afterwards — including someone who will point your former brand at content you would rather not be associated with. Treat the renewal on a redirected brand domain as a permanent line item, not a temporary one.