How to Redirect a Namecheap Domain with HTTPS

Namecheap's URL Redirect Record is better than some registrars' native forwarding — it has a genuine "Permanent (301)" option, not just a masked frame. What it doesn't do is provision an SSL certificate for the domain you're redirecting *away from*, so a visitor whose browser tries HTTPS first can still hit a certificate warning before the redirect ever runs. The fix is the same one that works everywhere: point the domain at a real CNAME-based redirect service instead of relying on Namecheap's redirect record alone.

Why the URL Redirect Record isn't a full fix

Two things to know before you rely on it:

• No certificate on the source domain. Namecheap's own documentation for the URL Redirect Record doesn't cover SSL at all — because it doesn't issue one. If someone types yourdomain.com and their browser tries https:// first (which is standard now), that request can fail before Namecheap's redirect fires, independent of which redirect type you picked.
• "Masked" mode uses a frame. If you pick Masked instead of Permanent (301) or Unmasked, Namecheap serves the destination inside a frame while keeping your original URL in the address bar. That's not a real HTTP redirect — search engines don't credit it as a URL move, and it breaks bookmarking and sharing.

The fix: point the bare domain straight at RedirectIQ

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

1. In Namecheap, go to Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS.
2. Click Add New Record, select A Record, set Host to @ (this represents the bare domain), Value to the static IP address RedirectIQ shows you when you add the domain, TTL Automatic.
3. Add yourdomain.com in your redirect service's dashboard.
4. Set your redirect rule (301, destination, path passthrough if /old-page should land on the matching new path).

That's it — one A record, no CNAME restriction to work around, no ALIAS record to hunt for, no certificate gap on the first hop. RedirectIQ provisions SSL for the bare domain the same way it does for any other.

Also want www.yourdomain.com to work?

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

1. Click Add New Record, select CNAME Record, set Host to www, Value to the target RedirectIQ's dashboard shows you, TTL Automatic.
2. Add www.yourdomain.com as a separate domain in your redirect service's dashboard.

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: a 301 status code, a valid HTTPS certificate, the correct final destination, and the original path preserved if you enabled passthrough.

RedirectIQ provisions and renews the SSL certificate automatically once you add the domain. Start free →