Domain Aliases vs Redirects in cPanel

JohnnyJekyll

Registered
Apr 28, 2017
2
1
3
UK
cPanel Access Level
Website Owner
Would it be possible to clarify the best way to set-up domain redirects in cPanel? Looking for some clarification from those more advanced than myself.

Let's say I own two domains mydomain.com and mydomain.net. I have set-up a website using mydomain.com and wish to configure it so that if someone types mydomain.net into the browser then they will be redirected to mydomain.com (301 redirect).

In cPanel there is a Domain Alias option and a Domain Redirect option. My base understanding is an cPanel Alias setting mirrors one domain to another and a cPanel Redirect setting redirects one domain to another. But in all the websites I have hosted with cPanel I have always set-up additional domains as Aliases (or previously Parked) domains, and then manually used htaccess to redirect them?

Am I missing something? Is setting up the additional domains as cPanel Aliases and then manually redirecting using htaccess an acceptable or preferred method? If it redirects properly then surely it does the SEO job as well?

If so then I'd ask why is cPanel Redirect actually needed (does it help with auto updating htaccess or something to help users - I've never used it)?

Thanks very much in advance.
 

cPanelMichael

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 11, 2011
47,880
2,261
463
Hello,

A redirect isn't required when setting up a new domain name as an Alias in cPanel. It's typically only setup after the fact when someone doesn't want the aliased domain name showing up in the address bar. In those cases, I'd recommend adding the domain name as an Addon Domain name instead of an Alias. The following document explains the differences between using an Alias and an Addon domain name:

Aliases vs Addon Domains

Thank you.