To www or Not to www?

[harrygreen90]

I am setting up a new domain in Google webmaster tool and curious which is better for SEO? WWW or non-WWW in URL?

for example

http://example.com
or
http://www.example.com

which is more advantages? if I select non-www, do i need to add a redirection for my domain?

Please explain me! thanks

 

[samimnoorzaitgc]

Preferred domain name should start with www. There no advantages and dis-advantages between them but it is recommended to use the www version.

 

[MrT]

MrT

For what purpose? Why is it recommended? If there are no advantages or disadvantages, why would you recommend either of the possibilities?

I never use the www version on a new site. The opposite version will redirect anyway, makes no difference. WWW or no www, it doesn't matter.

The only case where it would matter, is when it is an established site... then you typically choose the version that has the best backlinks.

 

[harrygreen90]

harrygreen90

If using no www without a redirction, Google can consider the domain as 2 different URLs?

For example, an user type your domain on the browser (www or no www) it will run both?

 

[SEOPub]

SEOPub

Recommended by who?

It doesn't matter, other than in the case of an already established domain.

You need to pick a preferred version and setup a proper 301 redirect between them, but you can pick either one.

 

[samimnoorzaitgc]

It just matters when you don't set a preferred version, both are the same.

 

[HBAndrei]

The most logical solution I've found and that I run with:

- the actual usage on your webserver and when linking online, don't use www. as domains are long enough without you making it even longer. Almost all my domains redirect the www. to non-www.

- when telling someone in real life to visit your site, use www. so they can better understand and remember your site.

 

[harrygreen90]

harrygreen90

I agree with you on this but as your experience, you're still getting good organic traffic and better keyword rankings with non-www?

 

[HBAndrei]

HBAndrei

Doesn't make absolutely no difference, mate.

 

[ulterios]

I don't think that it makes a difference one way or another. As long as you have your redirects set up properly it should make no difference.

Personally, I have both and just use what I think looks best for that particular site.

If you are not sure after thinking about which you like best then I say "When in doubt, use what the big boys use!" and go with what the top websites are using...

God Luck either way.

 

[samimnoorzaitgc]

I Agree with SEO pub. Set the proper 301 redirect. One more thing to add: If you want your domain short & easy to remember, choose the non-www version. Like efc.co . It doesn't look good with www.efc.co does it? for long domains, www version will be fit! Othe than this, I have no Idea
And to you Pub guy, why don't you add your own's instead of directly striking people?

 

[Hawker]

I swear I commented in a thread exactly the same or similar to this the other day?

If I remember right, I think I commented on why we still use WWW in the URL at all.

I mean, browsers don't even need to use the WWW to find the URL anymore anyway.

Maybe back in 1991 they did but not these days.

However, look at all the biggest Internet sites and for some reason they all still seem to revert to and use WWW in their URL.

But you have to ask, why? for what purpose? What does it achieve?

If you ask me it doesn't achieve anything and just makes the URL longer and nobody likes a long URL?

I personally think they should do away with this cumbersome and bulky WWW protocol.

It doesn't serve any purpose at all these days and we can certainly live without it.

For that reason, I'll always choose to redirect my URL to the non-WWW version of it.

Unless someone can tell me a good reason to keep it and revert to it?

 

[SEOPub]

SEOPub

Not true. Every woman I know likes a long URL.

 

[Hawker]

Hawker

So not many then LOL. Jokes.

 

[janseo]

It is not recommended to keep both versions from SEO point of view but it doesn't matter a lot whether you choose www or non www version. Once you set the proffered version you need 301 redirect to the preferred version.

 

[R44]

Since I started my site, I used www. Not because of SEO reasons, but because I knew that I would have multiple sub-domains. And it fits into the server naming convention.

 

[varunsharma]

I am setting up a new domain in Google webmaster tool and curious which is better for SEO? WWW or non-WWW in URL?

for example

http://example.com
or
http://www.example.com

which is more advantages? if I select non-www, do i need to add a redirection for my domain?

Please explain me! thanks

Hi,

you can choose any of them, but setting a proffered domain is necessary because otherwise if you are website is running on both domains Google will consider it two different sites.

 

[Charliedavid]

There are absolutely no SEO benefits of choosing one over another. Even Google has said that it all depends on your preference. What’s important is that you stay consistent with the one that you chose at the time of starting your website. In other words, DO NOT change your site URL to add or remove www from it. You can let Google know about your personal preference, and they will honor it.