Question: 'www' or no 'www' ?

[coachw1]

I'm in the process of a linkbuilding campaign.

My site is registered on Godaddy (i use godaddy linux hosting as well)
without the WWW.

how will this affect my linkbuilding campaigns?

i've been telling people i'm hiring to make my link http://mysite.com without the www, but I noticed one guy has been building them with the 'www' in it.

what sort of affects, if any are we looking at here?

to worry? not to worry? start over? does google know they are the same? etc?

 

[SpiderWebMaster]

it will not affect you if your hosting is well configured, like say one 301 redirect from the www link to the non-www link at the minimum. you can go the hard way and make a rewrite rule, but the result will be the same or maybe worst than a 301, because rewriting only with mod_rewrite will not pass on the link juice from the www backlinks and the simple 301 redirect trick will.

on the google part, you can add your website to google webmaster tools, verify it, and tell google that the non-www website is the one you want indexed and they will never index the www one, avoiding duplicate pages on search results.

NOTE: this is my understanding of how things work, i wouldn't say it's a proven thing or something like that

 

[coachw1]

thanks spiderweb,

how do i 'tell' google that through webmaster tools?

 

[SpiderWebMaster]

thanks spiderweb,

how do i 'tell' google that through webmaster tools?

if you already have one account with google webmaster tools, you should know how to verify your site, on one of the options tabs it asks what format do you want indexed. if i'm not mistaken it's in the same place where they ask you the country you want to target(US/UK) you know what i mean

if you can't find it send me a PM and i'll look in there to tell you the exact place.

 

[jyang]

it doesn't matter, just make sure you are consistent throughout your entire site...so if your main domain is http://example.com, make sure your pages have the format http://example.com/page.html (apply the same concept for www domains)

also, if you decided on a non-www version, make sure you do a 301 redirect from the www version to the non-www version

 

[lonojoe]

First check in which domain type you have more backlinks. You might have done mixed type.

Then redirect URL from less backlink type to more backlink type.

By type I meant http://. and http://www.

You can use 301 redirect to any one type. You can do this by editing htaccess file, if its not there, create one and upload saying redirection in the file.

Both seems to be same in eyes for humans, but spiders takes it as different ones. Always link build with one domain type. This is one among the first thing which you need to do before going for offpage optimization.

All the best....

 

[kharm]

destroy your website and begin anew. :microwave

 

[lanky]

destroy your website and begin anew. :microwave

I think you are just joking.
Do a 301 redirect or submit google webmaster tools is ok.

 

[BigBuddy]

One thing that helps is to pick the url that you want and use that url consistently across your entire site. For example, don't make half of your links go to http://example.com/ and the other half go to http://www.example.com/ . Instead, pick the url you prefer and always use that format for your internal links.

But its not a big issue for ranking purpose.

 

[JigJig]

Yeah, regardless of which version you go with... Just make sure that the other version properly 301s. That way, you still get the majority of the link juice passed by those links.

 

[showboytridin]

It's the same thing if you redirect one to other. you need to us a 301 redirect on your .htaccess file.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[india]

i like domains with www for the peace of mind.

 

[richgeeks]

i once heard kim roach saying in one of her videos that it does not matter as long as the link juice doesnot split up

 

[russaus]

bear in mind guys...

301 redirects are not the "solve all" approach. they are the best solution for rapid and safe redirection.

the theoretical best approach to link direction is at the source, i.e. backlinks going to the precise page and not via a 301.

Where someone above said "check links to www and non www and choose that" they are right. That said, the G algorithm has been roven to dilute the passing of rank from page to page and there is a diminished authority when a 301 is used, i.e. original link -> 301 -> destination.

It really does put the emphasis on webmaster to get the paths and link structures right early on.

Big ++ to selecting the www/non-www in GWT too. Good thread too btw.

 

[russaus]

It's the same thing if you redirect one to other. you need to us a 301 redirect on your .htaccess file.
Posted via Mobile Device

Showboytridin nailed it.

You can also redirect via:

• page header
• cpanel
• cname (poor man's 301)
• meta
• JS
• frame

But definitely the preferred method is htaccess or even individual page headers.

Some good examples here: hxxp://nostatus.com/web/htaccess-rewrite-cheatsheet.html

 

[yaz24]

i will suggest u to use www

 

[russaus]

i will suggest u to use www

^ There is no reason to use WWW. It's old, in fact it is deprecated. Ignore the comment from the person I've quoted. It's advice with no backup or substance.

The default/standard of all modern web browsers use the HTTP protocol for referencing web pages.

WWW is a subdomain of the DOMAIN. Why not use any SUBDOMAIN?

When you type an address into a browser the browser software pre fixes HTTP:// to the DOMAIN and connects to the HTTP server on port 80.

WWW is no longer a web server requirement. Take WWW and throw it away, or use it, or use ANY subdomain. It's completely irrelevant and unnecessary to use it.

See this for more info: hxxp://superuser.com/questions/60006/whats-the-purpose-of-the-www-subdomain

 

[rocket]

doesn't matter as long as you have a 301 direct setup so the one you choose gets all the search engine love transferred to it.

 

[russaus]

doesn't matter as long as you have a 301 direct setup so the one you choose gets all the search engine love transferred to it.

It doesn't transfer ALL the love according to mister cutts. There is definitely a loss of link love en route. Better to get the structure right at the start.

Also setting up the links in GWT helps. And asking for important links to be directed properly to www or non www helps.

Please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70LR8H8pn1M

 

[spiider]

It doesn't transfer ALL the love according to mister cutts. There is definitely a loss of link love en route. Better to get the structure right at the start.

Also setting up the links in GWT helps. And asking for important links to be directed properly to www or non www helps.

Please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70LR8H8pn1M

you are absolutely right mate. its better to get the structure right at the start