Effective Strategies for Redirecting a Naked Domain When Using BlueHost and Google Sites

Managing domain redirection can often be a complex task, especially when integrating multiple hosting and site management platforms. If you’re using BlueHost for domain registration and Google Sites for website hosting, ensuring that visitors to your naked domain (e.g., yourdomain.com) are properly redirected to your preferred version (like www.yourdomain.com) requires a clear understanding of DNS configurations and redirection methods.

Understanding the Scenario

In this setup, the primary goal is to have your visitors who enter your domain without the “www” prefix automatically redirected to the “www” version of your site. While your domain is registered through BlueHost and your website hosted on Google Sites, configuring redirection involves DNS management and possibly other steps, since Google Sites doesn’t natively support redirecting naked domains.

Challenges Faced

• Lack of a straightforward redirect or forward option within BlueHost’s domain management interface.
• Attempting to manually add an A record pointing to Google’s IP address results in a 404 error from Google Sites, indicating that this approach might not be suitable.
• New to domain management and DNS configurations, leading to uncertainty about the correct procedures.

Recommended Approach

1. Use BlueHost’s DNS Management Tools

While BlueHost may not offer an explicit redirect feature for the domain management interface, you can set up DNS records that help facilitate redirection. The most effective solution involves creating a redirect using a dedicated redirection service or setting up a forwarding record if supported.

1. Implement HTTP Redirects via a Forwarding Service

Since Google Sites does not support custom redirects for the naked domain, you can:

• Use BlueHost’s domain forwarding features if available:
• Log into your BlueHost control panel.
• Navigate to the ‘Domains’ section.
• Look for ‘Redirection’ or ‘Forwarding’ options.
• Set up a redirect from your naked domain (yourdomain.com) to your www domain (www.yourdomain.com).

• If such options are not available, consider third-party DNS management or URL forwarding providers that offer HTTP redirection services.

• Workaround: Using a Redirect Service or a Simple Web Page

Another common approach is to:

• Create a simple HTML page hosted on a server (could be through BlueHost or another service) that performs a 301 redirect to the www version.
• Point your naked domain’s A record to the IP address of this server, which contains