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Domain redirects: what they do and how to set your redirect URL

What a domain redirect is, why it matters for cold email, how to set or change your redirect URL in Bulk actions, why www.yourdomain.com doesn't redirect, and how to fix common issues.

Every sending domain in Maildoso can redirect anyone who opens it in a browser to a real website of your choice. This guide explains what the redirect is for, how to set or change it, and how to fix the issues customers ask about most.

What a domain redirect is (and why it matters)

Cold-email domains don't have their own website. If someone — a prospect, an email provider, or an automated check — types your sending domain into a browser, you don't want them to see a blank page or a "not found" error. A redirect forwards them to a real destination you choose, usually your main company website. This makes your sending domain look legitimate and helps protect its reputation. A properly set redirect URL also helps mailbox rotation work at its best across your domains.

How to set or change your redirect URL

  • Open the Domains section of your dashboard.

  • Tick the checkbox next to each domain you want to update. You can select one domain or many.

  • Click Bulk actions in the top-right corner.

  • Choose Change redirect URL (it shows how many domains you've selected, e.g. "Change redirect URL (1)").

  • Enter the full destination URL and save.

The redirect is managed entirely on our side — you don't need to add any DNS records yourself.

Setting it via the API

If you're adding domains programmatically (for example POST /v1/user/domains/external), you can set the same redirect through the redirect_to field instead of using Bulk actions — it's the same underlying setting, just set at creation time rather than afterward. For a batch of BYO domains, allow a little extra time after the domain shows Active for the redirect rule itself to finish provisioning; on large batches (dozens to low hundreds of domains) this can occasionally lag behind the domain status. If redirect_to is set, the domain shows Active, and the redirect still isn't working after a day, contact us with a few example domains — this is something we can refresh on our side quickly.

Where the redirect URL is shown

The current redirect URL appears in two places: on the domain's row on the Domains page, and on every mailbox's row on the Email accounts page (each mailbox shows the redirect of the domain it belongs to, e.g. https://yourcompany.com/). The Email accounts column is read-only — it's there so you can spot at a glance that all mailboxes on all domains point to the right site. If a mailbox shows an empty redirect or an old URL, change it on the Domains page as described above; the Email accounts page updates on its own.

Choosing your redirect URL

  • Enter the complete address, including https:// — for example https://www.yourcompany.com.

  • You can point to the exact page you want (your homepage, an "about" page, a landing page, etc.).

  • www or not? Either works — just enter the exact destination you want visitors to land on. If your website loads at www.yourcompany.com, use that; if it loads without www, use that.

Changing it later and updating many domains at once

You can change the redirect URL as often as you like, at any time. To update several domains together, select all of them with the checkboxes before opening Bulk actions — the change then applies to every selected domain in one step.

Checking that the redirect works

After you save a new redirect, give it a short time to take effect. When you open the domain in a browser you may first see a quick human-verification (CAPTCHA) challenge before you're forwarded — this is normal. It's part of the protection that keeps bots and automated scanners away from your sending domains, and real visitors pass through it to your destination site.

Managed redirect protection in Maildoso is a security feature designed to prevent bots and automated scraping of marketing domains that redirect to main sites. This protection ensures that HTTP/HTTPS requests are safeguarded by a Cloudflare challenge and cannot be disabled or removed on a per-client basis. This infrastructure is intentionally non-configurable to maintain security across all domains.

Test the redirect by opening the bare domain — for example yourdomain.com, not www.yourdomain.com. The redirect is set up on the bare domain only; see the note on www below.

To ensure accurate testing, use a fresh Incognito or private browser window after waiting a minute for the redirect to take effect.

Common issues

  • The "Change redirect URL" option is greyed out or there's no update button. You need to select at least one domain first. Tick the checkbox next to the domain, then open Bulk actions — the option will become available and show a count.

  • I'm updating from the wrong place. Redirects are changed in the Domains section (via Bulk actions), not in the Email accounts section — the redirect URL you see next to each mailbox there is display-only.

  • After the verification challenge I still see "Not found" instead of my site. First double-check the redirect URL is correct and complete (with https://). If the address is right and it still doesn't forward, contact us so we can look into it.

  • My domain doesn't redirect to my website at all. Confirm the domain is Active and that you saved a valid destination URL. If it's set correctly and still not forwarding after a little while, reach out and we'll check it for you.

  • I added domains via the API with redirect_to set, and every one of them returns a 403 instead of redirecting. This is the same provisioning lag described in "Setting it via the API" above, not a configuration mistake — it shows up most often on larger BYO domain batches. Contact us with your account and a few example domains and we'll refresh the redirect rules; there's no need to remove and re-add the domains.

  • The bare domain redirects, but www.mydomain.com doesn't open (or shows "site can't be reached"). This is expected. Redirects on Maildoso sending domains work on the bare domain only (mydomain.com); the www. version of a sending domain is not set up and is not currently supported. This doesn't affect your outreach: links in your emails, the sending domain itself and reputation checks all use the bare domain, so nothing is broken. This is separate from the destination URL you enter, which can include www or not — see "Choosing your redirect URL" above.

  • Can I disable the CAPTCHA/redirect protection challenge? No, this is part of Maildoso's managed redirect protection, which is powered by Cloudflare and is intentionally non-configurable to ensure security across all domains.

A redirect is not website hosting

A redirect only forwards visitors to another website — it does not let you host a site, or add your own A or CNAME records, on the sending domain itself. If you need to host a website on the domain, see Can I host a website or add A/CNAME records on my Maildoso sending domain?

Still stuck? Contact us with your account email and the domains involved, and we'll help you get the redirect working. See also Using your Master Inbox and connecting mailboxes to an email app, the other piece of getting the most out of mailbox rotation.

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