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The short version
yourname.com.auandwww.yourname.com.auare different names. Addhttpandhttpsand you have four addresses.- Choose one as the real address and redirect the other three to it.
- A redirect is done by a web server, not by DNS. DNS gets the visitor to a server; the server says “go there instead”.
- Use a 301 for a move that’s staying and a 302 for a short-term detour.
Four addresses, one site
Type your web address four different ways and you’re asking for four different things:
http://yourname.com.auhttp://www.yourname.com.auhttps://yourname.com.auhttps://www.yourname.com.au
To a person they’re the same website. To browsers and search engines they’re four addresses that happen to show the same pages. The tidy setup is to choose one as the real address and send the other three to it.
The secure https:// versions should win; the next lesson covers why. That leaves one choice: with www or without.
www or not?
Either is fine. www is only a subdomain that became a habit, and visitors don’t care. Two practical points can tip it:
- Both names need DNS records whichever you choose, because people will type both. The one you didn’t choose still has to reach a server that can redirect it.
- The bare domain can’t be a CNAME. If your website platform gives you a hostname to point at, not an IP address, that’s easy for
wwwand awkward for the bare domain. The CNAME rules explain why. Some DNS hosts offer an ALIAS record to get around it.
Whichever you pick, use it everywhere: on your cards, in your email signature, in your Google Business profile.
What a redirect actually is
A redirect is a reply from a web server. The browser asks for one address, and the server answers “that’s over there now”. The browser then asks again at the new address, usually so fast you never notice.
This is the point people miss: a redirect is done by a web server, not by DNS. DNS can only answer “which server?”. It can’t say “go to a different web address”. So every name you want redirected still needs a DNS record pointing at some server, and that server has to be set up to do the redirecting.
Permanent or temporary: 301 and 302
Redirects come with a number that says how long the move is for.
| Code | Means | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
301 | Moved permanently | The old address is retired: a new domain, a renamed page, the three spare versions of your address |
302 | Moved for now | A short-term detour: a holding page, a sale, maintenance |
Visitors can’t tell the difference. Search engines can. Mozilla’s reference says a 301 means the resource “has been permanently moved”, and that search engines “will attribute links to the original URL to the redirected resource”. With a 302, they “will not attribute links to the original URL to the new resource”. Google says the same from its side: a permanent redirect is “a signal that the redirect target should be canonical”, and a temporary one isn’t.
So if a move is for good, use a 301. A 302 left in place for years tells search engines the old address is still the real one. You may also see 308 and 307, which are stricter versions of 301 and 302.
Redirect, forwarding, CNAME: which is which?
Three things get called “pointing a domain somewhere”. They behave differently.
| Method | What happens | Address bar shows |
|---|---|---|
| A or CNAME record | DNS sends the visitor to a server, which must be set up to answer for your name | Your domain |
| Redirect | A web server you control replies “go to this other address” | The other address |
| URL forwarding | The same thing, done for you by a small redirect service at your domain provider. No web hosting needed. | The other address |
A common mistake is to add a CNAME from your domain to someone else’s site, such as a social media page or a booking page, and expect it to work as a redirect. It won’t. The other server receives a request for a name it has never heard of and shows an error. For that job you want forwarding.
Some providers also offer “masked” or “framed” forwarding, which keeps your domain in the address bar by showing the other site inside a frame. It tends to display badly on phones, it confuses search engines, and links to individual pages stop working. A plain redirect is the better choice.
What forwarding is good for
- Spare domains. You hold
yourname.auas well asyourname.com.au: forward one to the other. (Not sure you need both? Read our guide to whether you need the .au as well.) - A new name. After a rebrand, the old domain forwards to the new one for as long as people might still use it.
- No website yet. Forward the domain to your social media or booking page until the site is built.
Check that forwarding handles https. When someone visits the https:// version of a forwarded domain, the forwarding service needs a certificate for that name before it can reply at all. Not every service has one. Test both the http:// and https:// versions after you set it up.
Redirects don’t touch your email
Web redirects and URL forwarding only affect web browsers. Email follows the MX records, which are separate. Forwarding a spare domain’s website won’t forward its mail; that needs email forwarding, set up on its own.
At Chill Domains. URL forwarding is included with every domain that uses our DNS. You choose where visitors go, whether the redirect is a 301 or a 302, and whether the rest of the address (such as /contact) comes along. Forwards answer on both http:// and https:// (the https:// version can take a little longer to start), and a new one usually starts working within an hour or so. If your domain uses another provider’s nameservers, set the redirect up with that provider instead. If you’d rather run the redirect on your own web host, point the domain there with an A record in the DNS editor.
Terms in this lesson
- www
- Just a subdomain that became a habit.
- Apex
- Your domain with nothing in front of it:
yourname.com.au, notwww.yourname.com.au. - Canonical address
- The one web address you’ve chosen as the real one for your site, such as
https://www.yourname.com.au. - Redirect
- A web server telling a browser “the page you asked for is at this other address”.
- 301 redirect
- A web server’s way of saying “this page has moved for good; go to the new address”.
- 302 redirect
- A web server’s way of saying “go over there for now”.
- Forwarding
- Sending visitors, or email, on to another destination without hosting anything yourself.
- CNAME record
- A DNS record that makes one name an alias of another name.
- ALIAS record
- A workaround some DNS hosts offer so the bare domain can follow another hostname, which a CNAME isn’t allowed to do there.
- URL
- The full address of one page: how to connect, which name and which page, as in
https://www.yourname.com.au/menu.
Every term, in full, is in the glossary.
Sources
All read on 2 October 2026.
- 301 Moved Permanently and 302 Found (MDN Web Docs): what each redirect means for browsers and search engines.
- Redirects and Google Search (Google Search Central): permanent redirects as a signal for the canonical address.
- RFC 1034, Domain Names: Concepts and Facilities (IETF): why a CNAME can’t share a name with other records.