Domain Forwarding Glossary
Every redirect, DNS, and domain forwarding term explained — no jargon, no fluff. Bookmark this page and come back whenever you need a clear answer.
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.htaccess
An .htaccess file is a configuration file used by Apache web servers to control server behavior on a per-directory basis. It's commonly used for URL redirects, access control, and URL rewriting — without modifying the main server configuration.
301 Redirect
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that tells browsers and search engines that a URL has moved permanently to a new location, transferring approximately 90-99% of link equity (ranking power) to the new URL.
302 Redirect
A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect that tells browsers and search engines a URL has temporarily moved to a different location. Unlike a 301, search engines keep the original URL indexed and do not transfer link equity.
303 Redirect
A 303 redirect (See Other) is an HTTP status code that tells the browser to follow the redirect using a GET request, regardless of the original request method. It's commonly used after form submissions to prevent duplicate POST requests.
307 Redirect
A 307 Temporary Redirect is an HTTP status code that works like a 302 but strictly preserves the original HTTP method. If the original request was a POST, the redirected request will also be a POST.
308 Redirect
A 308 Permanent Redirect is an HTTP status code that works like a 301 but strictly preserves the original HTTP method. If the original request was a POST, the redirected request will also be a POST.
404 Not Found
A 404 Not Found is an HTTP status code indicating that the server cannot find the requested URL. It means the page doesn't exist — either it was never created, has been deleted, or the URL is misspelled.
410 Gone
A 410 Gone is an HTTP status code indicating that the requested resource has been permanently deleted from the server with no forwarding address. Unlike a 404, it explicitly tells search engines the page will never come back.
A
AAAA Record (IPv6)
An AAAA record (quad-A record) maps a domain name to an IPv6 address, the newer 128-bit internet address format. It's the IPv6 equivalent of the A record, which maps to IPv4 addresses.
Apex Domain
An apex domain (also called a root domain, bare domain, or naked domain) is a domain name without any subdomain prefix — for example, example.com rather than www.example.com. It sits at the top of the DNS hierarchy for that domain.
C
CAA Record
A CAA (Certificate Authority Authorization) record specifies which certificate authorities (CAs) are allowed to issue SSL/TLS certificates for a domain. It's a security measure that prevents unauthorized CAs from issuing certificates for your domain.
Canonical URL
A canonical URL is the preferred version of a web page that search engines should index when multiple URLs serve the same or very similar content. It's specified using a <link rel='canonical'> tag in the page's HTML head.
Catch-All Redirect
A catch-all redirect is a rule that forwards any request to a domain — regardless of the path or subdomain — to a single destination. It acts as a safety net, ensuring no visitor gets a 404 error on the forwarded domain.
CDN (Content Delivery Network)
A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a globally distributed network of servers that delivers content from the server closest to the user. CDNs reduce latency by caching content at edge locations around the world.
Certificate Authority (CA)
A certificate authority (CA) is a trusted organization that issues digital SSL/TLS certificates. Browsers and operating systems maintain lists of trusted CAs, and only certificates from these CAs are accepted without warnings.
Client-Side Redirect
A client-side redirect is a redirect executed by the browser after a page has been loaded, using JavaScript or a meta refresh tag. Unlike server-side redirects, the browser must download and process the page before the redirect occurs.
Country Code TLD (ccTLD)
A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is a two-letter TLD assigned to a specific country — like .uk for the United Kingdom, .de for Germany, .ca for Canada, and .jp for Japan.
Crawl Budget
Crawl budget is the number of pages a search engine will crawl on your site within a given timeframe. It's determined by your site's authority, server speed, and the number of URLs. For large sites, crawl budget optimization is critical.
D
Deep Linking
Deep linking is the practice of linking to a specific page or resource within a website rather than its homepage. In domain forwarding, preserving deep links means old-domain.com/specific-page correctly redirects to new-domain.com/specific-page.
Device Redirect
A device redirect sends visitors to different destination URLs based on their device type — desktop, mobile, or tablet. The server inspects the User-Agent header to determine the device and redirects accordingly.
DNS (Domain Name System)
The Domain Name System (DNS) is the internet's phone book — it translates human-readable domain names (like example.com) into IP addresses (like 93.184.216.34) that computers use to connect to each other. Modern security enhancements like [DNS-over-HTTPS](/glossary/dns-over-https) and [DNSSEC](/glossary/dnssec) add encryption and verification to this process.
DNS A Record
An A record (Address record) is a DNS record that maps a domain name to an IPv4 address. It's the most fundamental DNS record type, telling browsers which server to contact when visiting a domain.
DNS ALIAS Record
An ALIAS record (also called ANAME) is a non-standard DNS record type that works like a CNAME but can be used at the apex domain. It resolves the target hostname to an IP address at the DNS server level, then returns that IP as if it were an A record.
DNS Cache
A DNS cache stores previously looked-up DNS records locally — in your browser, operating system, or ISP's resolver — so repeat visits to the same domain don't require a full DNS lookup every time.
DNS CNAME Record
A CNAME (Canonical Name) record is a DNS record that maps one domain name to another, creating an alias. Instead of pointing to an IP address like an A record, a CNAME points to another hostname — which is then resolved to an IP address.
DNS Lookup
A DNS lookup is the process of querying DNS servers to find the IP address or other records associated with a domain name. It's the first step that happens when you type a domain into your browser.
DNS Over HTTPS (DoH)
DNS over HTTPS (DoH) encrypts DNS queries by sending them through HTTPS connections instead of plain UDP. This prevents ISPs, network administrators, and attackers from seeing or tampering with which domains you're visiting.
DNS Propagation
DNS propagation is the process by which updated DNS records spread across the global network of DNS resolvers. After changing a DNS record, it can take minutes to 48 hours for all resolvers worldwide to serve the updated information.
DNS Zone File
A DNS zone file is a text file that contains all the DNS records for a domain. It defines the mappings between domain names and IP addresses, mail servers, nameservers, and other DNS data.
DNSSEC
DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records to verify their authenticity. It prevents attackers from tampering with DNS responses, protecting against cache poisoning and man-in-the-middle attacks.
Domain Forwarding
Domain forwarding is a specific type of URL forwarding where an entire domain name is configured to redirect all traffic to a different domain. It's used during rebrands, to protect brand variations, or to consolidate multiple domains.
Domain Name
A domain name is a human-readable address for a website — like example.com or google.com. It's the text you type into a browser's address bar, which DNS translates into the IP address of the server hosting the website.
Domain Parking
Domain parking means registering a domain name without connecting it to an active website. Parked domains typically show a placeholder page, advertising, or nothing at all. They're held for future use, resale, or brand protection.
Domain Privacy
Domain privacy (also called WHOIS privacy) is a service that hides a domain owner's personal information — name, address, phone number, email — from the public WHOIS database by replacing it with the privacy service's details.
Domain Registrar
A domain registrar is a company authorized to sell and manage domain name registrations. Registrars like Namecheap, GoDaddy, Porkbun, and Cloudflare let you purchase, renew, and configure domains.
Domain Registry
A domain registry is the organization that manages a top-level domain (TLD) — like Verisign for .com or Public Interest Registry for .org. Registries maintain the authoritative database of all domains registered under their TLD.
Domain Transfer
A domain transfer moves a domain's registration from one registrar to another — for example, moving example.com from GoDaddy to Namecheap. This changes who manages the domain's registration and billing, not necessarily its DNS.
E
EPP Code (Auth Code)
An EPP code (also called authorization code, auth code, or transfer key) is a unique password assigned to a domain that's required to transfer it between registrars. It prevents unauthorized transfers.
Expired Domain
An expired domain is a domain name whose registration period has lapsed without renewal. After expiration, the domain goes through a grace period, redemption period, and eventually becomes available for anyone to register.
G
Generic TLD (gTLD)
A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is a TLD not associated with a specific country — like .com, .org, .net, .io, .dev, and newer extensions like .blog, .shop, and .tech.
Geo Redirect
A geo redirect sends visitors to different destination URLs based on their geographic location, determined by their IP address. For example, visitors from the UK might be redirected to example.co.uk while US visitors go to example.com.
Grace Period (Domain)
A grace period is the window of time after a domain expires during which the original owner can still renew it at the standard price, typically 30-45 days depending on the registrar and TLD.
H
HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security)
HSTS is a security policy that tells browsers to only connect to a website using HTTPS, never HTTP. Once a browser sees an HSTS header, it automatically upgrades all future HTTP requests to HTTPS.
HTTP
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the foundational protocol of the web, defining how browsers request and receive web pages from servers. Unlike HTTPS, HTTP traffic is unencrypted.
HTTP Header
An HTTP header is a key-value pair sent between the browser and server as part of an HTTP request or response. Headers carry metadata like content type, caching instructions, redirect destinations, and security policies.
HTTP Status Code
An HTTP status code is a three-digit number returned by a web server in response to a browser's request. Status codes indicate whether the request succeeded, failed, or requires further action like a redirect.
HTTPS
HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) is the encrypted version of HTTP. It uses TLS to encrypt communication between a browser and server, ensuring data can't be intercepted or tampered with in transit.
I
ICANN
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the non-profit organization that coordinates the global Domain Name System, accredits domain registrars, and establishes policies for domain registration.
Internationalized Domain Name (IDN)
An internationalized domain name (IDN) is a domain name that contains characters from non-Latin scripts — like Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, or characters with accents and diacritical marks (e.g., münchen.de or 例え.jp).
IP Address
An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a numerical label assigned to every device connected to the internet. IPv4 addresses look like 192.168.1.1, while IPv6 addresses look like 2001:0db8::1. Domain names are translated to IP addresses by DNS.
L
Latency
Latency is the time delay between a user's request and the server's response, measured in milliseconds. In domain forwarding, latency is the time it takes for the redirect server to receive a request and send back the 301/302 response.
Let's Encrypt
Let's Encrypt is a free, automated, open certificate authority that provides SSL/TLS certificates at no cost. It issues over 300 million active certificates and is the backbone of free HTTPS on the web.
Link Equity (Link Juice)
Link equity (commonly called 'link juice') is the SEO value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks. When a page with authority links to another page, it passes some of that authority — a 301 redirect preserves most of this value.
Location Header
The Location header is an HTTP response header that tells the browser which URL to navigate to during a redirect. It's included in every 3xx redirect response and is the mechanism that makes server-side redirects work.
M
Meta Refresh Redirect
A meta refresh redirect is an HTML-based redirect that uses a <meta> tag in the page's <head> to automatically send visitors to a different URL after a specified delay. It's considered an outdated and SEO-unfriendly method of redirection.
Mixed Content
Mixed content occurs when an HTTPS page loads sub-resources (images, scripts, stylesheets) over insecure HTTP. Browsers block or warn about mixed content because it undermines the security of the HTTPS connection.
MX Record
An MX (Mail Exchange) record is a DNS record that specifies which mail servers are responsible for receiving email for a domain. MX records include a priority value to determine the order in which mail servers are tried.
N
Nameserver
A nameserver is a server that holds DNS records for domains and answers queries about those records. When someone types your domain name, nameservers are what translate it into the IP address where your website (or redirect) lives.
Noindex
A noindex directive tells search engines not to include a page in their search results. It can be set via a meta tag in HTML or an HTTP header. The page can still be crawled — it just won't appear in search results.
NS Record
An NS (Name Server) record specifies which nameservers are authoritative for a domain — meaning which servers hold the official DNS records for that domain and can answer DNS queries about it.
P
Path Forwarding
Path forwarding preserves the URL path during a redirect, so old-domain.com/blog/post redirects to new-domain.com/blog/post instead of just new-domain.com. This keeps deep links alive and prevents 404 errors on the destination.
Punycode
Punycode is an encoding system that converts internationalized domain names (IDNs) containing non-ASCII characters into an ASCII-compatible format that DNS can process. It uses the 'xn--' prefix.
R
Redirect Chain
A redirect chain occurs when a URL redirects to another URL, which itself redirects to yet another URL — creating multiple hops before reaching the final destination. Each hop adds latency and can reduce the SEO value passed to the final URL.
Redirect Loop
A redirect loop occurs when two or more URLs redirect to each other in a circular pattern, creating an infinite loop that prevents the page from ever loading. Browsers detect this and show an ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS error.
Referrer
The referrer (HTTP Referer header) identifies the URL of the page that linked to the current request. When a user clicks a link or follows a redirect, the browser may send a Referer header telling the destination where the visitor came from.
Reverse DNS
Reverse DNS (rDNS) is the process of resolving an IP address back to a domain name — the opposite of standard DNS, which resolves domain names to IP addresses. It's done using PTR records.
Reverse Proxy
A reverse proxy is a server that sits in front of one or more backend servers, intercepting requests from clients and forwarding them to the appropriate backend. It can also handle SSL termination, load balancing, caching, and — relevant here — URL redirects.
robots.txt
robots.txt is a text file placed at the root of a website (example.com/robots.txt) that tells search engine crawlers which pages they're allowed or not allowed to crawl. It's a suggestion, not an enforcement — well-behaved crawlers respect it.
S
SAN Certificate (Subject Alternative Name)
A SAN certificate (Subject Alternative Name certificate) is an SSL/TLS certificate that secures multiple different domain names on a single certificate. Unlike wildcard certificates, SAN certificates list each domain explicitly.
Self-Signed Certificate
A self-signed certificate is an SSL/TLS certificate that is signed by its own creator rather than a trusted certificate authority. Browsers don't trust self-signed certificates and display security warnings.
Server-Side Redirect
A server-side redirect is a redirect handled by the web server before any page content is sent to the browser. The server responds with an HTTP 3xx status code and a Location header, telling the browser to go to a different URL.
SOA Record
An SOA (Start of Authority) record contains administrative information about a DNS zone, including the primary nameserver, the responsible party's email, and timing parameters for zone transfers and caching.
SRV Record
An SRV (Service) record specifies the hostname and port for specific services running on a domain, like VoIP, messaging, or game servers. It's more targeted than an A record because it includes both the server location and the port number.
SSL Certificate
An SSL/TLS certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates a website's identity and enables an encrypted HTTPS connection. Without a valid certificate on the source domain, visitors see browser security warnings when a domain redirect uses HTTPS.
SSL Termination
SSL termination (also called TLS termination) is the process of decrypting encrypted HTTPS traffic at a server or load balancer before forwarding the request internally. The 'termination' point handles the certificate and encryption.
Subdomain
A subdomain is a prefix added to a domain name that creates a separate address within the same domain hierarchy — for example, blog.example.com or shop.example.com. Subdomains are set up as DNS records under the parent domain.
T
TLS (Transport Layer Security)
TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the cryptographic protocol that provides encryption for HTTPS connections. It's the successor to SSL and is what actually secures modern web traffic.
Top-Level Domain (TLD)
A top-level domain (TLD) is the last part of a domain name — the segment after the final dot. In example.com, the TLD is .com. Common TLDs include .com, .org, .net, .io, and country codes like .co.uk.
TTL (Time to Live)
TTL (Time to Live) in DNS is a value in seconds that tells DNS resolvers how long they should cache a record before fetching a fresh copy from the authoritative server. Lower TTL means faster propagation of changes but more DNS queries.
TXT Record
A TXT record is a DNS record that stores text data for a domain. It's used for domain verification (proving ownership to services like Google), email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and other text-based DNS information.
U
Uptime
Uptime is the percentage of time a service is operational and accessible. A 99.9% uptime means the service is down for no more than 8.76 hours per year. For domain forwarding, uptime determines how reliably visitors are redirected.
URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)
A URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) is a string that identifies a resource. URLs are a subset of URIs — every URL is a URI, but not every URI is a URL. In practice, the terms are often used interchangeably on the web.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the complete web address used to locate a specific resource on the internet. It includes the protocol, domain name, path, and optionally query strings and fragments — like https://example.com/blog?page=2#intro.
URL Forwarding
URL forwarding is the process of automatically sending visitors from one URL to a different URL. It's a general term that encompasses domain forwarding, path-level redirects, and any mechanism that maps one web address to another.
URL Fragment
A URL fragment (also called hash or anchor) is the part of a URL after the # symbol. It identifies a specific section within a page — like https://example.com/page#section2. Fragments are handled entirely by the browser and never sent to the server.
URL Masking
URL masking (also called domain masking or URL cloaking) is a technique that displays the content of one URL while keeping the original URL visible in the browser's address bar. It typically works by embedding the destination in an iframe.
URL Path
The URL path is the portion of a URL after the domain name that identifies a specific page or resource on the server. In https://example.com/blog/my-post, the path is /blog/my-post.
URL Scheme
The URL scheme (also called protocol) is the first part of a URL that identifies the protocol used to access the resource — like https://, http://, ftp://, or mailto:. For web forwarding, the relevant schemes are http:// and https://.
URL Shortening
URL shortening is the practice of creating a short URL that redirects to a longer URL. Services like Bitly, TinyURL, and Rebrandly create short links, while domain forwarding services let you create branded short URLs on your own domain.
URL Slug
A URL slug is the human-readable portion of a URL that identifies a specific page — the part that comes after the domain and path prefix. For example, in example.com/blog/my-first-post, the slug is 'my-first-post'.
UTM Parameters
UTM parameters (Urchin Tracking Module) are tags added to the end of a URL that track where traffic comes from. They help analytics tools like Google Analytics identify the source, medium, and campaign that generated a visit.
W
WHOIS
WHOIS is a public database and query protocol that stores information about who registered a domain name, including the registrant's name, organization, address, email, and the domain's nameservers and expiration date.
Wildcard Redirect
A wildcard redirect forwards all subdomains or URL paths matching a pattern to a destination, using a single rule instead of configuring each one individually. For example, *.old-domain.com → new-domain.com catches every subdomain.
Wildcard SSL Certificate
A wildcard SSL certificate secures a domain and all its subdomains with a single certificate. It uses an asterisk (*) as a placeholder — for example, *.example.com covers www.example.com, blog.example.com, shop.example.com, and any other subdomain.
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