Short answer: if you hold two names for the same business (another extension, the old name, a typo you registered) and there is a clear main name, the best thing is to connect the second to the site and redirect it to the main one with a 301. If you want both to open the same site and stay visible, an alias is enough. If they are different businesses, it is a separate site. And if you do nothing, whoever types it sees an error or a blank page.
The four options
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What the visitor sees |
For Google |
When it fits |
| Alias (parked domain) |
The same site, with the name they typed staying in the bar. |
Two copies of the same content. It picks which to show, not always the one you want. |
Both names are equally yours and you want both to show. |
| Alias with a 301 redirect |
They type the second name and end up on the main one. |
It understands there is one site. |
There is a clear main name. It is what we recommend. |
| Separate site (addon domain) |
Another site, with other content. |
Another site, treated as such. |
Another business, another brand, another audience. |
| Doing nothing |
An error, or a page that is not yours. |
Nothing to index. |
Only while you decide, and never for long. |
The first three are explained step by step in parked domains (aliases) and in adding another domain or a subdomain. What matters here is the choice.
How to do it, step by step
| 1 |
Decide the main name. It is the one that goes on cards, on your e-mail signature, on social networks and in the site settings. The other one is support.
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| 3 |
Create it as an alias in cPanel (Domains › Create a New Domain), with the option to share the site folder switched on. Without it, cPanel creates an empty folder and the domain shows a blank page.
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| 4 |
Add the 301 from the second to the main one, so that whoever types the second name ends up on the first: 301 or 302.
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| 5 |
Check from outside. In a private window, type the second name with and without www. It must always end up on the main one, over HTTPS.
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An alias catches e-mail too. The server starts treating the second name as its own for mail. If that name has its e-mail with another service, you can no longer send messages from here to it, unless you switch the e-mail routing to remote: e-mail with us and the site elsewhere.
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A name you no longer want can simply stop being renewed, but think first: if you lose it, someone else can register it and receive the mail and the visitors that still look for it. See domain renewal. And if the second name has a typo, it cannot be corrected, but it can serve as an alias: a typo in the domain name.
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Have two domains and want both to lead to the same site? Tell us which they are and which is the main one.
Open a support ticket
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