Domain forwarding
A simple redirect from your outreach domain to your main site. Small setup, big trust signal — here's why it matters and how to do it.
When a prospect gets a cold email from james@acme-outreach.com and wants to check if you're a real business, many of them will type the domain into a browser and see where it goes. If they land on a blank page, they assume you're sketchy. If they land on your real company website, you've built credibility without saying a word.
That's what domain forwarding does. It's a simple redirect from your outreach domain (like acme-outreach.com) to your main business domain (like acmebiz.com). This page shows how to set it up, change it, or turn it off.
Why this matters more than it seems
Two audiences benefit from you having domain forwarding set up:
- Prospects who check. A small but meaningful percentage of people will look up your domain. A live redirect makes you look real.
- Email providers. Gmail and Outlook sometimes check whether a sending domain has a web presence. A domain that resolves to nothing can hurt your sender reputation; a domain that redirects to a legitimate business site helps it.
It's five minutes of setup, and it removes one of the "does this person actually exist" concerns prospects and spam filters both have.
When you'd set up forwarding
Three moments:
| When | How |
|---|---|
| During inbox checkout | A Forwarding Domain field appears on the checkout page. Fill it in before you confirm the order. |
| Retroactively on a single domain | Use the Domain Forwarding button at the top of the Email Accounts page. |
| Retroactively on multiple domains at once | Same button — it supports bulk update. |
Setting it up during checkout (recommended)
When you're buying new inboxes, the checkout page has a Forwarding Domain field near the top. Just type your main website URL (like yourbusiness.com — no need for https://) and continue.
If you skip the field, a dialog asks you to confirm you want to proceed without forwarding. You can always add it later — no commitment made at checkout.
Setting it up retroactively
If you already have domains and want to add or change forwarding:
Bulk update behavior
Domain Forwarding applies one forwarding value to every domain you select. Entering a URL overwrites forwarding for those selected domains. Leaving the URL empty removes forwarding for those selected domains.
Open the Domain Forwarding panel
Go to Cold Email Agent → Email Accounts. At the top of the page, click the Domain Forwarding button.
Pick the domains
The panel lists all platform-managed domains you bought through Acquisity. Tick the checkbox on each domain you want to update. There's a Select All button if you want the same forwarding on every domain.
Enter the URL
Type your main website URL in the Forwarding URL field. For example: yourbusiness.com or https://your-landing-page.com/about. Any valid URL works.
Save
Click Update. The redirect takes effect once DNS propagates — usually within minutes, sometimes up to an hour.
Which URL should I forward to?
Three sensible options depending on your goals:
| Target | Best for |
|---|---|
| Your main company website | Most teams. Shows you're a real business. The safest default. |
| A dedicated landing page | Agencies or teams who want inbound visitors from domain checks to land somewhere curated — maybe a scheduling page or a case-study page. |
| A specific About or team page | Solo operators using personal-brand outreach who want visitors to land on their LinkedIn or About page. |
What to avoid: don't forward to a hard sales page. Someone who typed your outreach domain into a browser is probably feeling a bit sceptical already — a pushy "Buy now!" page confirms the suspicion. Your homepage or an About page is almost always better.
Changing the forwarding URL
Repeat the setup flow — pick the domains, type the new URL, save. The old redirect is replaced by the new one. No downtime.
Removing forwarding
If you want a domain to stop redirecting (e.g. you're shutting it down):
Open the Domain Forwarding panel
As above: Email Accounts → Domain Forwarding.
Select the domains
Tick the ones you want to stop forwarding.
Leave the URL field empty
Don't type anything in the Forwarding URL field.
Save
Click Update. The redirect is removed — visits to that domain now go nowhere (or to a default "this domain is parked" page).
What forwarding does and doesn't affect
| Affected by forwarding? | |
|---|---|
| Web visits (people typing the domain in a browser) | Yes — they get redirected |
| Email sending from inboxes on that domain | No — email continues as normal |
| Email receiving / replies to your campaigns | No — replies come back to your inboxes as normal |
Subdomain traffic (like app.yourdomain.com) | May or may not — depends on how forwarding is configured. Test any subdomain you care about. |
Forwarding is purely a web-traffic setting. It doesn't change email routing, authentication, or anything about how the campaigns actually run.
You'll know forwarding works when…
- Typing your outreach domain (e.g.
acme-outreach.com) into a browser takes you to your main site. - The selected domains no longer show forwarding problems after support or DNS propagation has caught up.
- A prospect clicking the domain name in an email lands on your real business page.
If it doesn't work within an hour of setup, see troubleshooting below.
If something's not right
I set up forwarding but the domain still goes nowhere
DNS propagation can take up to an hour, occasionally longer. Wait a bit and try again. If it's still not working after a few hours:
- Reopen Domain Forwarding, select the affected domain, and re-enter the forwarding URL if needed.
- Check Cold Email Agent → Email Accounts for inbox rows on that domain with Error status.
- If the inbox rows look healthy but the redirect still fails, contact support with the domain name so they can inspect the managed domain.
Forwarding works for some domains but not others
Usually one or two domains have a stuck DNS state. Try removing forwarding on that specific domain and re-adding it. If it still won't take, contact support with the domain name.
The forwarding target returns an error
Check the URL you set. A typo or a missing https:// prefix on some hosting providers' URLs will break the redirect. Try pasting the full URL including https:// and see if it fixes it.
Can I forward to different URLs for different domains?
Yes. In the Domain Forwarding panel, update domains in groups — tick a subset, set URL A, save. Then tick a different subset, set URL B, save.
Can I forward external domains I didn't buy through the platform?
No. Forwarding only works on domains the platform manages (pre-warmed or DFY). For domains hosted on your own registrar, set up forwarding in that registrar's control panel instead.
Related
- Buying inboxes — where you'll first see the forwarding field
- Deliverability — why trust signals like forwarding matter
- Domain provisioning — the other technical side of domain setup
- Billing & domains FAQ → redirect to main website