A domain alias is a way to point an additional (sub)domain to an existing website on your web hosting package. This means that visitors of the added alias will see exactly the same website as on the main domain.
For example, you may have a website active on examplewebsite.nl. If you add examplewebsite.com as an alias, examplewebsite.com will display the same website as examplewebsite.nl.
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WordPress websites automatically redirect to the main domain and therefore do not display the alias domain in the address bar.
Do you still want the alias domain to be shown in the address bar? Then you need to set the alias as a WordPress Multisite. You can find the steps for this in the article ‘Activating Multisite on a WordPress Website’.
- For SSL to be active on the alias it is necessary that Let's Encrypt is active on the primary website, because the alias is automatically added to the primary website's Let's Encrypt certificate.
Add an alias
Step 1
Go to your control panel and navigate to ‘Shared Hosting’ from the left menu. Then, under ‘Products’, click on your domain name.
Click on ‘Site’ at the top, then ‘Domains & SSL’. Next, click on the ‘Manage’ button to the right of the website you want to add an alias to.
Step 2
Click on the three dots next to ‘Website Information’ and then select ‘Add Domain Alias’.
Step 3
Select the domain you want to add as an alias and click ‘Next’.
Next, select if you would like to use the main domain or a subdomain. In our example we added blog.transiptutorials.com as an alias.
To ensure the alias displays the same website as the primary website or subsite it is linked to, it is essential that the correct DNS records are present on the domain alias. Check and update the correct IP address on the added domain or subdomain.
Update your DNS settings
You have now added a domain alias to your existing website. If the website is not immediately visible when visiting the (sub)domain, update the DNS settings of your domain alias.
If your domain uses the standard TransIP-settings, your (sub)domain will become visible almost immediately. If you are using an external nameserver or if your domain is registered with another provider, you must manually add the correct A-records there.
If you have previously modified your domain’s DNS, ensure that you create an A-record and AAAA-record for your (sub)domain.
For a domain name: Enter @ as the name, select type ‘A’, and enter the IPv4 address of your web hosting package. Repeat this for the AAAA record, and enter the IPv6 address.
- To make your main domain accessible with
www, add a DNS record with the name ‘www’. Then, choose CNAME as the type and@as the value. This ensures that thewwwsubdomain always points to the same record as the A- and/or AAAA-record of your main domain.
For a subdomain: Enter only the subdomain as the name, select type ‘A’, and enter the IP address of your web hosting package. Repeat this for the AAAA record, and enter the IPv6 address.
You can find the IP address of your web hosting package by clicking the three dots next to your (sub)domain in the ‘Domains & SSL’ overview, then selecting ‘Show IP addresses’.
For more details:
- Read The DNS settings of my web hosting package.
- Learn how to configure DNS records in Adjusting DNS and nameservers via the control panel.
Remove a domain alias
If you want to remove a domain alias, click the trash can icon next to the alias.
If you have any further questions after reading this article, please contact our support team via the ‘Contact Us' button at the bottom of this page.