How to redirect from www to apex domain

Why www-to-apex redirects matter for your coaching website

If someone types www.yourcoachingsite.com into their browser and lands on a blank page — or worse, a DNS error — you've already lost them. A www to apex domain redirect ensures that every visitor, regardless of which version of your URL they type, reaches your site without friction. This is a foundational DNS and web-hosting task, and getting it right protects both your user experience and your search-engine rankings.

Google treats www.example.com and example.com as two separate URLs by default. Without a proper redirect, you risk split link equity, duplicate-content penalties, and a confusing experience for clients trying to book a session or browse your coaching programs. The fix is straightforward once you understand the moving parts.

TL;DR — Quick answer

• An apex domain (also called a root or naked domain) is yourdomain.com — no www prefix.
• You need a 301 redirect so www.yourdomain.com → yourdomain.com (or vice versa, but apex-primary is most common).
• The redirect is configured at two levels: DNS records (in your domain registrar) and, where applicable, your hosting or platform settings.
• On Coachful, you set your canonical domain in Settings → Domains and the platform handles SSL and redirect logic automatically.

Understanding apex domains vs. www subdomains

Before touching any settings, it helps to know exactly what you're working with.

Apex (root/naked) domain

Your apex domain is the bare domain you registered — yourcoachingsite.com. It lives at the DNS zone apex and can only use A records or ALIAS / ANAME records (not CNAME records, which is a common source of confusion). Most modern registrars and DNS providers support ALIAS or ANAME as a CNAME-equivalent at the apex.

www subdomain

www.yourcoachingsite.com is technically a subdomain. It can use a CNAME record pointing to a load balancer, CDN hostname, or platform-provided hostname. This is why some hosting providers tell you to "use the www version" — it gives them more routing flexibility.

Which should be canonical?

Either is fine for SEO, but apex-primary (redirect www → apex) is increasingly the modern default. It's shorter, cleaner in print and on social media, and modern DNS providers handle apex records without issues. Pick one, stick with it, and redirect the other — forever.

Step 1 — Decide your canonical domain

Before configuring DNS, decide whether your canonical (primary) domain is the apex (yourdomain.com) or www (www.yourdomain.com). This guide assumes you want apex-primary (www redirects to apex), which is the most common setup for coaches using Coachful with a custom domain.

Write it down: "My canonical domain is yourdomain.com. I will redirect www.yourdomain.com → yourdomain.com." Having this decision locked in before you touch DNS prevents flip-flopping, which can cause redirect loops and indexing delays.

Step 2 — Configure DNS records at your registrar

Log in to wherever you purchased your domain (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Google Domains / Squarespace Domains, etc.) and navigate to the DNS management panel. You'll create or update the following records:

1. Apex A record (or ALIAS/ANAME record)
   Point your root domain to Coachful's IP address or hostname. In Coachful, go to Settings → Domains → Add custom domain. The panel will display the exact A record IP (or ALIAS hostname) to use. Copy it and create/update the @ or apex A record in your registrar.
2. www CNAME record
   Create a CNAME record for the www host pointing to yourdomain.com (your apex) or to Coachful's provided hostname if instructed. Many registrars will not allow a CNAME pointing back to your own apex directly; instead, point it to the Coachful-provided CNAME target shown in the domain panel.
3. Wait for propagation
   DNS changes propagate in minutes to 48 hours. Use DNSChecker.org or Google's Dig tool to verify your records are live globally before troubleshooting anything else.

Coachful makes this easier. When you add a custom domain inside your Coachful workspace, the platform auto-provisions an SSL certificate via Let's Encrypt and tells you exactly which DNS records to add. You don't need to manually configure HTTPS — it's handled for you. Learn more about Coachful's website builder and custom domains.

Step 3 — Configure the redirect in Coachful

DNS alone tells browsers where your server is — it doesn't tell your server how to redirect. Here's how to set the canonical redirect inside Coachful:

1. Sign in to your coach dashboard at app.coachful.co/sign-in.
2. Navigate to Settings → Domains (found in the left sidebar under your workspace settings).
3. If you haven't already, click Add custom domain and enter your apex domain — e.g., yourdomain.com (without www).
4. Coachful will verify DNS propagation automatically. Once verified, a green checkmark appears next to your domain.
5. Set the apex domain as your primary domain. Coachful will then serve a 301 permanent redirect for any request arriving at the www subdomain, forwarding it to the apex.
6. If you also want to add www.yourdomain.com as an alias domain, you can — Coachful's platform will redirect it to the primary. This ensures SSL is provisioned for both variants, preventing browser certificate warnings.
7. Click Save and allow 5–10 minutes for the SSL certificate to fully propagate.

After saving, test by visiting https://www.yourdomain.com in a fresh browser tab (or incognito). You should land on https://yourdomain.com with a padlock in the address bar. If you see a certificate warning, wait another 10 minutes and try again — SSL provisioning sometimes takes a few minutes.

Step 4 — Verify the redirect is a 301 (not a 302)

A 301 redirect is permanent and passes ~99% of link equity to the destination URL. A 302 redirect is temporary and does not reliably pass SEO value. Coachful issues 301 redirects by default, but it's worth verifying, especially if you've used any third-party redirect services.

Use a free HTTP header checker like httpstatus.io. Enter http://www.yourdomain.com and confirm you see:

• 301 Moved Permanently from http://www.yourdomain.com → https://yourdomain.com
• A final 200 OK at https://yourdomain.com

If you see a chain of redirects (e.g., http://www → https://www → https://apex), that's a redirect chain. Two hops is generally acceptable, but three or more can slow page load and dilute SEO signals. Ideally, collapse it to a single hop.

Step 5 — Update Google Search Console

If your site was previously indexed under the www version, you should update Google Search Console to reflect the apex as your preferred domain:

1. Go to Google Search Console and add a new property for yourdomain.com (if not already present).
2. Verify ownership using the HTML tag method or DNS TXT record method.
3. Submit your sitemap at https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Coachful auto-generates a sitemap for your coaching website.
4. In the old www property (if it exists), use the Change of Address tool to signal to Google that www.yourdomain.com has moved to yourdomain.com.

Google will consolidate ranking signals over the following weeks. Don't expect overnight results — this is normal. As long as the 301 is in place, Google will update its index progressively.

Pro tips for a clean domain setup

Always redirect both HTTP and HTTPS variants. That means four possible entry points — http://www, https://www, http://apex, and https://apex — should all funnel to a single canonical https://apex. Coachful handles the HTTP→HTTPS upgrade automatically once SSL is provisioned, but verify all four manually using a header checker.

• Don't use URL shorteners as a redirect solution. Services like Bitly create 302 redirects and add an extra hop. Use proper DNS and platform-level 301s.
• Update your email signatures, social bios, and print materials to use the apex domain exclusively. This trains your audience and reduces mixed signals.
• Set your canonical URL in your Coachful website settings as well. Even with a redirect, a canonical meta tag (<link rel="canonical">) in your page HTML reinforces your preferred URL to search engines. Coachful injects this automatically based on your primary domain setting.
• Check your Stripe-connected links and booking URLs. If you've shared direct booking links like www.yoursite.com/book anywhere, those will redirect correctly — but it's cleaner to update them to the apex version going forward.

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

Mistake 1 — Adding a CNAME at the apex

The DNS specification does not allow CNAME records at the zone apex. If your registrar lets you add one, it may conflict with your MX (email) records and break outgoing email. Use an A record or ALIAS/ANAME record at the apex. If your registrar doesn't support ALIAS/ANAME, transfer DNS management to Cloudflare (free), which supports CNAME flattening at the apex.

Mistake 2 — Forgetting to add www to Coachful as an alias

If you only add the apex domain in Settings → Domains but don't add www as an alias, requests to www.yourdomain.com may hit a "no certificate" or "connection refused" error rather than a clean redirect. Add both, set the apex as primary.

Mistake 3 — Redirect loops

A redirect loop happens when Domain A redirects to Domain B, which redirects back to Domain A. This usually occurs when a CDN or proxy (like Cloudflare) has an SSL mode mismatch. If Coachful is set to HTTPS but Cloudflare is in "Flexible" SSL mode (only encrypting client→Cloudflare, not Cloudflare→origin), you get a loop. Set Cloudflare SSL mode to Full (Strict) when using Coachful with a custom domain.

Mistake 4 — SSL certificate not provisioning

Coachful provisions SSL automatically, but the process requires DNS to be correctly pointed first. If you add the domain in Coachful before DNS propagates, the SSL verification may fail. Delete and re-add the domain after DNS is confirmed live, or wait 24 hours and check again. You can also reach Coachful support via Michelle (the AI assistant in your dashboard) for a manual SSL recheck.

Mistake 5 — Not testing in incognito

Your browser aggressively caches redirects. A redirect that "isn't working" is often just your browser serving a cached version. Always test in an incognito/private window, or use a tool like httpstatus.io which bypasses browser cache entirely.

Mistake 6 — Updating DNS at the wrong registrar

If your domain was transferred or if you're using a separate DNS provider (e.g., Cloudflare for DNS, GoDaddy for registration), you must make DNS changes at the authoritative DNS provider, not the registrar. Check your domain's nameservers first (dig NS yourdomain.com) to confirm where to log in.

Cloudflare-specific setup

Cloudflare is popular with coaches because it's free and fast. If your DNS is managed through Cloudflare, the setup is slightly different:

1. In Cloudflare, add an A record for @ (apex) pointing to the Coachful IP shown in your domain settings. Set the proxy status to DNS only (grey cloud) initially until SSL is provisioned, then switch to Proxied (orange cloud) if desired.
2. Add a CNAME record for www pointing to your apex domain (yourdomain.com). Cloudflare's CNAME flattening will handle this correctly at the apex level.
3. In Cloudflare's Rules → Redirect Rules, create a rule: if hostname equals www.yourdomain.com, redirect to https://yourdomain.com/$1 with a 301. This ensures the redirect happens at the edge, before the request even reaches Coachful's servers — faster for users and reduces origin load.
4. Set Cloudflare SSL/TLS mode to Full (Strict).

Ready to launch your coaching website on a custom domain?

A clean www-to-apex redirect is one of those invisible details that separates a professional coaching brand from an amateur one. Once it's set up correctly, you'll never need to think about it again — and every client who types your URL, clicks a link in your email signature, or finds you through Google will land exactly where you want them.

Coachful gives every coach a custom subdomain out of the box, plus full support for custom domains with automatic SSL, canonical redirect configuration, and a drag-and-drop website builder — so you can focus on coaching, not DevOps. If you're ready to connect your domain or build your coaching site from scratch, start your free trial today or sign in to your workspace and head to Settings → Domains to get started.

Need help with related topics? See our guides on connecting a custom domain to Coachful, troubleshooting SSL certificates, and using the Coachful website builder.