.htaccess - How do I redirect domain to subdomain using htaccess?

Question

.htaccess is a bit new to me!

I have a current site located at www.domain.com and I'm building a new site at new.domain.com.

When the new site is finished, I want to re-direct all traffic to the new subdomain.

Also, I want to resolve url canonicalization at the same time.

Any help appreciated! Thanks Mark

Answer 1

There are several different solutions. The best one, both from SEO and User perspective, is the one-to-one 301 redirect. It preserves your link juice and at the same time redirects the client to the exact location on the new website.

If you have mod_alias enabled, I would suggest a simple

RedirectMatch 301 ^(.*)$ / http://new.domain.com/$1

The result instruction can be accomplished with

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule (.*) http://new.domain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

The second one is the best choice if you need to chain multiple conditions and filters. For example, if you need to redirect only certain hosts or clients depending on User Agent header.

Remember: mod_redirect takes precedence over mod_alias.