Can you use a domain redirect for a site and the domain for a WP.com subdomain?

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    I want to reduce my hosting costs for the domain that is now linked to my WP.com blog (the one with the ads) via a subdomain address. What would be the cheapest way to do this?

    1. Can I simply NOT host the primary domain and redirect it to the subdomain address used for WordPress or does the PRIMARY domain have to be formally hosted? That would be the easiest solution. Just turn off the other hosting.

    2. Could I set up an externally hosted WordPress.org site and use it as the domain for the actual blog on WordPress.com? The reason I ask is that my “external host” offers free WP.org hosting. I pay nothing extra to have the WordPress format. I could set up a simple site using a single blog post and additional “pages” only and redirect visitors to the “real blog” at WP.com. It would be a bit strange I realize, but nevertheless, a work around to contain costs. I like the look of the WP templates better than those of the host I’m using.

    3. Final option would be to set up a 1-6 page domain with my host that then redirected customers to the blog. That one is obviously possible and would cost me nothing extra at the host.

    Are all of those possible?

    Thanks for your help!

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    gemmacevans · Member ·

    Hi sunandstorm,

    I want to reduce my hosting costs for the domain that is now linked to my WP.com blog (the one with the ads) via a subdomain address.

    market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com and live-in-presence.fullyrealized.com are both mapped to WordPress.com sites.

    I just want to make sure I’ve understood some of the points you mentioned:

    Can I simply NOT host the primary domain and redirect it to the subdomain address used for WordPress

    Do you mean, transferring the domain itself to WordPress.com, point it to a site hosted on WordPress.com and use that rather than a subdomain? This would mean you only have one site with the root domain registered and managed through WordPress.com.

    Could I set up an externally hosted WordPress.org site and use it as the domain for the actual blog on WordPress.com?

    You could set up a self hosted WordPress.org site on another host and link to a free blog hosted on WordPress.com — but there would still be costs on our end if you wanted to use a custom domain rather than a free address containing “.wordpress.com”.

    Final option would be to set up a 1-6 page domain with my host that then redirected customers to the blog.

    Setting up a redirect/forward on your hosts end would redirect traffic visitors to the WordPress.com site. However, only domain mapping or mapping a subdomain will hide the free address on our end — and this is currently what you are using on both sites.

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    OK, to clarify further… remember my goal is not to have the most elegant presentation. It’s to eliminate an additional hosting fee.

    1. I cannot use a non-hosted domain to redirect traffic to the blog. If I am using wordpress.com as a subdomain, I have to host a primary domain elsewhere, yes? I cannot use a redirected web address – it would have to be a primary hosted domain, correct?

    2. I could host a wordpress.org site using hostgator for example as my host and link that as the primary domain to my wordpress.com blog, correct? You may ask why do that? I can do it at no additional cost at Hostgator, where I host multiple wordpress.org sites using primary domains hosted there. I could set up a wordpress site for free showing only pages and no blog posts or perhaps just one blog post redirecting readers to the wordpress.com site. I also don’t want to have to transfer 8 years of blog posts over there! Finally, I don’t like the interface used at wordpress.org vs. the dot.com interface (tangent: Is there a way to use the same interface “over there”? It’s clunky in comparison.

    3. I could host a new limited site/non-wordpress type for free at my host (the one that does not charge for multiple sites/they charge for bandwidth at a certain point however) and keep the same subdomain setup I have. I don’t like the look of their free sites, however, vs. the options at wordpress.org, so this is a poor option IMO. I can set up option 2 above in a couple of hours at most if it’s allowed.

    You said I was masking the subdomain structure, but I’m not. It shows as this in the browser: https://market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com/. Or were you making some other point?

    What is the cost of using my site MarketTiming.blog as the wordpress “subdomain” of sunandstorminvesting.com, instead of the subdomain structure above?

    Thanks very much for your help. ;)

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    1. I cannot use a non-hosted domain to redirect traffic to the blog. If I am using wordpress.com as a subdomain, I have to host a primary domain elsewhere, yes? I cannot use a redirected web address – it would have to be a primary hosted domain, correct?

    I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you’re asking. Can you please mention the specific domains involved and what exactly you’re trying to do rather than phrasing this as a hypothetical scenario?

    You have the subdomain, market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com mapped to sunandstorm.wordpress.com and the subdomain live-in-presence.fullyrealized.com mapped to liveinpresence.wordpress.com. That makes us your host for both those subdomains.

    Your root domains, sunandstorminvesting.com and fullyrealized.com are registered and hosted somewhere else, and we have no control over either of them.

    If you mean you want those root domains to also go to your WordPress.com sites, you can certainly do that, either by mapping them to your WordPress.com sites as well, or by transferring the registration for those domains to us completely.

    If you want the WordPress.com site to still show at the subdomain, you can map both the root and a subdomain to the same WordPress.com site, and then just set the subdomain’s mapping as the primary domain on the site. Then the root and the free WordPress.com address will redirect to the subdomain.

    2. I could host a wordpress.org site using hostgator for example as my host and link that as the primary domain to my wordpress.com blog, correct?

    I don’t understand what you’re saying here either. Can you please clarify exactly what the end result is you’re looking for?

    Finally, I don’t like the interface used at wordpress.org vs. the dot.com interface (tangent: Is there a way to use the same interface “over there”? It’s clunky in comparison.

    To use the WordPress.com/My Sites interface on a self-hosted WordPress site you need to install the Jetpack plugin on that site, and then connect it to your WordPress.com account. Then you can manage the self-hosted site via your WordPress.com account, but it does not move the hosting to us or give us any control over the self-hosted site itself.

    You said I was masking the subdomain structure, but I’m not

    I don’t see any reference in Gemma’s answer above to “marking the subdomain structure”. Can you please clarify what you’re referring to?

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    I want the cheapest solution if I were to end my hosting elsewhere, but do not want to disrupt my wordpress.com site.

    Can I have a wordpress.org site (the free OFF wordpress version) that is sunandstorminvesting.com and use market-timing- blog.sunandstorminvesting.com as my actual blog? I would just have a link to it from the other site.

    In that case I’d leave market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com mapped to sunandstorm.wordpress.com.

    Why would I do that? I have essentially free hosting at HostGator (can set up multiple sites on one account) because I’m already paying for a package. So I would host the cheapest site there at MarketTiming.Blog or SunandStormInvesting.com and keep it mapped to WordPress.com. That way I could save $300 in hosting fees at another site I’ve been using for hosting (other than HostGator).

    Probably my best site name is MarketTiming.blog. What would it cost per year to host that at WordPress for the site along and the hosting and what is the additional cost to allow it to be commercial or is that not allowed on the .com site? (I would avoid paying any hosting fee you charge if I host the primary domain MarketTiming.Blog or Sunandstorminvesting.com at Hostgator as said above.)

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    By the way, point labelled “1.” above is very clearly written. Maybe have a colleague explain to you what my question was. I’ll say it yet another way… Can I remove hosting from sunandstorminvesting.com and do a simple redirect to market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com FROM sunandstorminvesting.com? If you read the question above, it said the same thing. Thanks.

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    Please answer the other question posed above as well about using a WP.org site as my sunandstorminvesting.com (hosted site) and simply having a link go to the existing subdomain at WP.com. Thanks.

  • supernovia · Staff ·

    1. Can I simply NOT host the primary domain and redirect it to the subdomain address used for WordPress or does the PRIMARY domain have to be formally hosted? That would be the easiest solution. Just turn off the other hosting.

    This issue can be complex, but I think I understand. Also, you’re asking WordPress.com support, so we’ll answer from a WordPress.com standpoint. Other hosts may have other rules and pricing.

    Let’s clarify by separating sites from domains. You can have multiple names pointing to a single site. If you need separate sites, each will need hosting.

    So, how many different websites do you intend to end up with?

    And how many different domains do you intend to use with them?

    If you don’t care about the two self-hosted sites, you can certainly save money by no longer hosting them and pointing everything to a single site here.

    Domain mapping (of outside domains or subdomains) is currently free with with a site plan. I noticed you’re grandfathered in to where you’re paying for domain mapping without a plan, at $13 each. You would not be able to map new domains at that price. Also, depending on the number of domains and number of sites you intend to end up with, it may makes sense to just get one plan for one site and map all of the domains to it.

    You would still need to pay domain renewal fees, either at your existing registrar, or here (we include the first year with a plan), or at the cheapest registrar of your choice.

    If your registrar does not include DNS hosting, and you opt to only point subdomains here rather than pointing the domain to our DNS, you would need to consider finding a DNS host as well.

    As one more consideration, if you’re mapping several domains to a single site, you might consider slowly eliminating the extra domains over time so you’re only paying for one renewal fee. When you point multiple domains to a single site on our servers, we automatically permanently redirect “extra” domains to a primary domain. Over time, search engines should update all links to point to the primary domain, and at that point you can let the non-primary domains go if you no longer want to renew them.

    Can I have a wordpress.org site (the free OFF wordpress version) that is sunandstorminvesting.com and use market-timing- blog.sunandstorminvesting.com as my actual blog? I would just have a link to it from the other site.

    I assume by “off wordpress” version you mean a WordPress.org installation at another host? If so, yes, you can host everything on your own copy of WordPress.org at another host if that makes the most sense to you. Pricing will vary by host and the options they include for hosting multiple domains.

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    OK great. That was very clear and helpful, but I needed a bit more clarification with this: “When you point multiple domains to a single site on our servers, we automatically permanently redirect “extra” domains to a primary domain.”
    You mean a site HOSTED at WP.com correct? I would not drop sites I use for marketing purposes that are forwarded to the blog. They add value of course.

    I use MarketTiming.Blog as a redirect only to my WP.com blog now, but I want to now set up what is now called sunandstorminvesting.com as MarketTiming.Blog using the cheap host and making it a WP.org site (but not at an additional cost unless trivial).

    Meaning, the cheapest and quickest option is to host a WP.org site at my current host where an incremental site (if traffic does not explode) costs ZERO and WP sites are easier to set up as well. I can then direct that back to the currently mapped subdomain.

    Would I have to maintain the exact same domain sunandstorminvesting.com in order to keep my WP.com subdomain fee at $13? If I now redirect MarketTiming.Blog to the same WP.com subdomain would that fee rise and if so, to what level?

    I am going to assume I cannot change the site name I’m connecting to WP.com right now w/o incurring higher fees, and if so, I would guess that it WOULD be OK to change hosts (keeping same site name/IP address) and not have that subdomain fee go up or not?

    I have forgotten as it’s been years now since I connected that subdomain, is the connection made on your side only, the primary domain side only or both? Thanks. I appreciate your help with these nuances.

  • supernovia · Staff ·

    You mean a site HOSTED at WP.com correct?

    Yup, everything in my post prior to the part about “off WordPress” is under the assumption that you’re talking about sites hosted here.

    Would I have to maintain the exact same domain sunandstorminvesting.com in order to keep my WP.com subdomain fee at $13?

    I think so, given that we can’t add new domain mappings at that price. Domain mappings are free but require a plan.

    If I now redirect MarketTiming.Blog to the same WP.com subdomain would that fee rise and if so, to what level?

    It depends on how you redirect. Are you planning on mapping or just using a redirect through your domain provider?

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    Q1: If I switch out MarketTiming.Blog for sunandstorminvesting.com, and connect my WP.com blog to the former (mapping), what would the charge be vs. the prior $13 charge?

    I know there is no fee for redirecting the domain MarketTiming.Blog to my WP.com site as it stands. It’s all the same from your end after all.

    Q2: I also asked whether changing the servers for the same website would change that charge. Meaning if I stick with sunandstorminvesting.com and simply host it elsewhere, changing the servers, will my current grandfathered $13 fee still apply? I assume it would but thought I’d ask.

    Assuming I’m going to do what the prior paragraph states:

    Q3: Will my website be unreachable during the time the servers are being changed or not? I assume it would not matter which sunandstorminvesting.com site (old host vs. same site on new host) was set up to connect to WP.com? Unless someone arrived at the site the split second before the servers changed over, it should be invisible to the site visitor, yes?

    Q4: Related to Q3, do I have to change anything at your end to connect to the newly hosted site? I assume that would be done from the new host side, yes, and nothing would have to be changed at the WP.com end?

    Thank you for your clarity! I appreciate it!

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Q1: If I switch out MarketTiming.Blog for sunandstorminvesting.com, and connect my WP.com blog to the former (mapping), what would the charge be vs. the prior $13 charge?

    Do you mean you want to map MarketTiming.Blog to your WordPress.com site? That will again be $13, same as the mapping upgrades you already own.

    Neither of these two domains are currently mapped to WordPress.com, though, so however you switch them wherever they’re currently hosted has no relevance to this discussion that I can see.

    I know there is no fee for redirecting the domain MarketTiming.Blog to my WP.com site as it stands. It’s all the same from your end after all.

    If you’re redirecting the domain to your WordPress.com site from another provider that has nothing to do with us. That’s between you and your current provider for that domain.

    However, redirecting is not the same as mapping. Redirecting sends traffic visiting one domain, to a different domain. Mapping allows a specific site to appear at a specific domain, i.e. show that domain in the browser address bar.

    Q2: I also asked whether changing the servers for the same website would change that charge. Meaning if I stick with sunandstorminvesting.com and simply host it elsewhere, changing the servers, will my current grandfathered $13 fee still apply?

    sunandstorminvesting.com is not mapped to WordPress.com, so your question doesn’t make sense.

    Your account currently does not fall under our requirement to have a plan to add a domain, so you can add any number of domain mappings to your account at a $13 fee per domain. Or if you upgrade to a paid plan you can add an unlimited number of domain mappings on the site that has that paid plan.

    If you add a domain mapping for the domain and point the name servers for the domain to WordPress.com, then we are hosting the domain. If the name servers are pointed somewhere else, it’s hosted with whoever you point the name servers to, and there’s no reason to have a domain mapping upgrade on our end.

    Q3: Will my website be unreachable during the time the servers are being changed or not?

    Unless someone arrived at the site the split second before the servers changed over, it should be invisible to the site visitor, yes?

    DNS changes need to propagate across DNS servers spread around the world. Those servers don’t update at exactly the same time, so for a period after changing the name servers, or any DNS record for that matter, some people visiting your site will connect to one version while other will connect to another. So some people would get to the site hosted on WordPress.com while some people will get to the site at your current host during that time. You site should never be completely offline, though.

    This process typically takes a few hours, but in extreme cases it can take up to 72 hours.

    I assume it would not matter which sunandstorminvesting.com site (old host vs. same site on new host) was set up to connect to WP.com?

    I’m not sure what you mean here. If you add a domain mapping upgrade on WordPress.com, and point the name servers to WordPress.com, the domain will load the site hosted on WordPress.com. What is the “new host” you’re referring to here?

    Q4: Related to Q3, do I have to change anything at your end to connect to the newly hosted site? I assume that would be done from the new host side, yes, and nothing would have to be changed at the WP.com end?

    If you want to connect your domain to a site hosted on our servers, you need a domain mapping upgrade for the domain to complete the connection on our end.

    If you are changing the domain to a site on a different host, then it has nothing at all to do with us and you should be asking these questions from the hosting provider you’re planning on using, not us.

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    Thank you for your answer.

    First, I have to correct some of what you said.

    Q1. My website sunandstorminvesting.com currently has a subdomain set up for my WP.com blog called “market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com,” which I was told by the prior staff member is mapped to sunandstorm.wordpress.com. Is that right? You said it was not right. You said: “sunandstorminvesting.com is not mapped to WordPress.com” Obviously I’m talking about the blog subdomain that is mapped. Not the site itself. The site itself is hosted elsewhere.

    This is from my account with you:

    market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com
    Primary Domain
    Type: Mapped Domain

    sunandstorm.wordpress.com
    Included with Site

    Does this not mean what I wrote above is correct?

    It had better be, because I just verified this at my current host and the connection is as old as the blog (Sept. 2010). The CNAME Provider is listed as:
    sunandstorm.wordpress.com. The subdomain name is market-timing-blog and the domain name is sunandstorminvesting.com. Visitors see my site as:
    market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com, because it is mapped to sunandstorm.wordpress.com.

    Q2: The previous staff member said you would charge me a higher fee if I were to direct a different site such as MarketTiming.Blog to sunandstorm.wordpress.com. You said I would not or did I misunderstand you?

    Q3: If she was right and you are wrong, what would the fee be to change the site that is mapped to sunandstorm.wordpress.com? I would be changing it from SUBDOMAIN-NAME.sunandstorminvesting.com to SUBDOMAIN-NAME.markettiming.blog if there is no additional cost. Of course, the subdomain would be mapped to sunandstorm.wordpress.com as before.

    Some feedback for you. You seem to answer questions that are not asked. An example:

    I said (not a question):

    “I know there is no fee for redirecting the domain MarketTiming.Blog to my WP.com site as it stands. It’s all the same from your end after all.”

    To which you said:
    “If you’re redirecting the domain to your WordPress.com site from another provider that has nothing to do with us. [that’s what I just said above] That’s between you and your current provider for that domain.

    However, redirecting is not the same as mapping [I did not ask what redirecting was]. Redirecting sends traffic visiting one domain, to a different domain. Mapping allows a specific site to appear at a specific domain, i.e. show that domain in the browser address bar.”

    It’s OK to add superfluous answers like that, but it would be better to direct it toward others, not to me. Otherwise the back and forth is strange. You don’t appear to hear me accurately and then answer questions I don’t ask. Hope that helps. It is meant as constructive feedback.

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Q1. My website sunandstorminvesting.com currently has a subdomain set up for my WP.com blog called “market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com,” which I was told by the prior staff member is mapped to sunandstorm.wordpress.com. Is that right?

    That is correct.

    You said it was not right. You said: “sunandstorminvesting.com is not mapped to WordPress.com”

    Also correct. sunandstorminvesting.com is not mapped to WordPress.com. blog.sunandstorminvesting.com is. sunandstorminvesting.com and blog.sunandstorminvesting.com are two separate websites, one hosted with us, and one not.

    In your previous comment you referred to sunandstorminvesting.com, NOT to blog.sunandstorminvesting.com, so my answer is correct as per the information provided in the question you asked.

    Q2: The previous staff member said you would charge me a higher fee if I were to direct a different site such as MarketTiming.Blog to sunandstorm.wordpress.com. You said I would not or did I misunderstand you?

    Redirecting MarketTiming.Blog to sunandstorm.wordpress.com is something you’d set up at your domain provider for MarketTiming.Blog, and has nothing to do with us, thus there is no cost involved on our end.

    If instead you mean you wish to MAP MarketTiming.Blog to sunandstorm.wordpress.com, that will cost $13 if you add it as a stand-alone domain mapping like you currently have, or you can add a paid plan which will allow you to add as many domain mapping as you want for free.

    You will only be required to buy a plan should you cancel or let expire both the domain mapping upgrades you currently own – at the moment your account is still grandfathered into our old system that allowed owning domain upgrades without a paid plan.

    what would the fee be to change the site that is mapped to sunandstorm.wordpress.com?

    If you want to replace the current domain mapped to that site, market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com, with a different domain, there is no cost. We just need you to tell us which domain you would like mapped instead and we can replace it without removing the current upgrade.

    There is only a cost if you want to add an additional domain mapping on top of the one already on the site.

  • Unknown's avatar
    sunandstorm · Member ·

    Thank you for your answers. I think it would be good to let the other staff member know that it’s possible to switch out the subdomain domain to a new mapped subdomain at no additional charge.

    You should have been a lawyer!. ;) Technically you are right, but you were being literal in your answers as if you don’t understand the questions being asked. I’d suggest being a bit more flexible and understand that when a customer says a site is being directed to his/her wordpress site, s/he is talking about the subdomain of that site that is listed on their records that you have access to. Therefore simply by reviewing my records, you would have seen what was mapped to what. I admit my wording was not precise.

    I do now know the differences in the definitions that were referred to, so that was a plus of the conversation. ;)

    I intend to:
    1. Create a new sunandstorminvesting.com site as a new WP.org site at Host B while no longer hosting sunandstorminvesting.com at the more expensive Host A.
    2. Create a subdomain called market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com at Host B.
    3. I should not have to contact WP.com if the mapped name is identical. Is that correct?
    4. Terminate hosting of sunandstorminvesting.com at Host A and go live with Host B by entering the server info for Host B with the registrar of sunandstorminvesting.com .

    I decided NOT to use MarketTiming.Blog other than as a redirected domain from social media sites to my WP.com blog because:

    1. I am ranked #1 on google for “market timing blog” using my current market-timing-blog.sunandstorminvesting.com and could lose that if I switch domains, even if I maintain the same subdomain.
    2. I have branded SunAndStormInvesting on social media in my names: SunAndStorm at StockTwits and SunAndStormInv on Twitter, so I’d lose that if I switch to MarketTiming.Blog. The branding would not match the website name.

    Thanks again to both of you for your help!

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    3. I should not have to contact WP.com if the mapped name is identical. Is that correct?

    Correct. As long as you still have a CNAME record for the subdomain configured at your new host, everything should keep working on our end.

  • The topic ‘Can you use a domain redirect for a site and the domain for a WP.com subdomain?’ is closed to new replies.