How to Redirect a GoDaddy Domain with HTTPS

GoDaddy's built-in "Forward Domain" feature has two real problems: it doesn't issue an SSL certificate for the domain you're forwarding *from*, so browsers can show a security warning before the forward ever happens, and it often serves the forward through a frame or a temporary (302) redirect instead of a clean, permanent (301) one search engines fully credit. The fix is to point your domain at a real CNAME-based redirect instead of relying on GoDaddy's forwarding to do the whole job.

Why GoDaddy's built-in forwarding falls short

Three specific issues show up in practice:

• No SSL on the source domain. GoDaddy's forwarding doesn't provision a certificate for the domain you're redirecting away from. Since modern browsers automatically try HTTPS first, a visitor typing your domain can hit a certificate error before GoDaddy's forward ever fires.
• Framed (masked) forwarding. In "masking" mode, GoDaddy shows the destination content but keeps your original URL in the address bar via an iframe. That's invisible to a human at a glance, but it's not a real HTTP redirect — search engines don't treat it as a URL move, and it breaks bookmarking, sharing, and browser history in confusing ways.
• 302 instead of 301. Even when GoDaddy does issue a real redirect, it's frequently a 302 (temporary). For a permanent move — a rebrand, a domain change, an old URL retired for good — a 302 doesn't pass full link equity to the new destination the way a 301 does.

The fix: point the bare domain straight at RedirectIQ

Start with yourdomain.com on its own, not www — it's what most people actually type and link to, and on GoDaddy it's now the simpler of the two to set up correctly:

1. Log into GoDaddy's DNS management for your domain.
2. Add an A record: Host @ (this represents the bare domain), Value the static IP address RedirectIQ shows you when you add the domain, TTL default.
3. Add yourdomain.com in your redirect service's dashboard.
4. Set your redirect rule (301, destination, path passthrough if you want /old-page to land on the matching new path).

One A record, valid certificate, real 301 — no frame, no warning, nothing to move to another provider.

Also want www.yourdomain.com to work?

Add it as a second hostname with a normal CNAME — this part hasn't changed:

1. Add a CNAME record: Host www, Value the target RedirectIQ's dashboard shows you, TTL default.
2. Add www.yourdomain.com as a separate domain in your redirect service's dashboard. SSL provisions automatically — usually within 10–20 minutes.

RedirectIQ automatically groups a matched www/apex pair onto a single plan slot once both exist in your account, so covering both doesn't cost anything extra.

Verifying it worked

Use the free redirect checker to confirm: you should see a 301 status code, a valid HTTPS certificate, the correct final destination, and — if you enabled it — the original path preserved on the new URL.

RedirectIQ provisions and renews the SSL certificate automatically once you add the domain — no manual certificate requests, no renewal reminders to track. Start free →