WWW vs non-WWW - Which one is Better for SEO?

Marc0 · Mar 3, 2016

When I set up a new website and go to Google WMT and I saw 2 options, WWW and non-WWW. which one should I choose and do them affect search rankings?

Waiting for your valuable answers.

SEOPub · Mar 3, 2016

For a new domain, it doesn't matter, but you better pick one. For an existing domain, pick the one with the best links pointing at it.

Make sure you also redirect the other one in your .htaccess file. Users should not be able to access both the WWW and non-WWW versions. That can cause canonical issues and dilute your link strength.

Localnode · Mar 4, 2016

This below .htaccess code will re-write to www.

Code:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
#Force www:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mydomain.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.mydomain.com/$1 [L,R=301,NC]
</IfModule>

While this will be without www

Code:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
#Force non-www:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.mydomain\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://mydomain.com/$1 [L,R=301]
</IfModule>

Hawker · Mar 4, 2016

You know, I was thinking about this the other day and was going to ask why we still use WWW at all.

If you look at all the biggest sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google, Reddit etc etc etc

They all seemingly prefer to use the www in the URL.

When really, browsers don't need to use WWW to access a website.

The hyper text transfer protocol is enough to resolve the name to the IP and render the website.

So you have to ask, why do we still use WWW protocol at all?

Why do the biggest Internet sites use WWW in their URL?

And when it comes to your own site. Should you use WWW version or not? And should you redirect one to the other?

It's true that the WWW and the non-WWW version of your sites URL are seen as 2 separate URL's by Google (apparently) as SEOPub has pointed out.

Although it's also said that Google is much smarter than that these days and it doesn't count for much from an SEO perspective anyway.

And that's why it's a good decision to decide on the canonical URL from the start of any new site which version you're going to use and then redirect one to the other.

However, I personally think its a vanity thing and prefer not to use it as it also makes URL's much tidier.

I use this to redirect www to non-www and bind the IP to the domain (redirect IP to domain, prevents G indexing both).

Code:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^xxx\.xxx\.xx\.xx
RewriteRule (.*) https://mydomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Replace the x's with your sites IP.

But I think we should do away with the use of WWW altogether and forever!

Do you think that will ever happen? I suspect it will once the new Lifi Internet speeds are rolled out mainstream.

Can you imagine downloading 100GB movies and games in the blink of an eye?

It's coming!

Gecko · Jan 13, 2017

It doesn't really matter if you use the "www" or not for a new domain and website. You just want to pick one and then 301 the other to the one that you want. If you have an existing website/domain then you need to check into them and see which one has better or more good links and check and see if there are any other benefits to using one or the other.

When deciding whether or not to use the "www" or not for a new website/domain it's all about your preference. Personally I just go with whichever one I think looks better to me. Some of the longer domains will usually wind up not using the "www". Most of the short ones will have the "www".

Each person can be different on which they prefer so the choice is up to you on whether or not to use the "www" or not.

EcommIndiaCloudIT · Jan 13, 2017

Edward said:
When I set up a new website and go to Google WMT and I saw 2 options, WWW and non-WWW. which one should I choose and do them affect search rankings?

This no longer affects SEO. It used to at a point of time where google considered www and non www version to be 2 different domains. This is no longer the case. In your google webmasters dashboard, you can tell which one you want google to use as primary. What google will do then is consider both versions as valid and associate the secondary version with the primary you set.

HostXNow · Jan 13, 2017

Either is fine; just one (WWW) involves more typing. That has no effect on SEs. I would pick non-WWW as 3 fewer chars to type, just make sure you redirect the other as mentioned already by other members.

Foreprime seo · Mar 11, 2017

doesn't matter to be real.. .but you have to have two versions working because people use both. Redirect the one that your are not using to the other.

centurion · Jul 3, 2017

Edward said:
When I set up a new website and go to Google WMT and I saw 2 options, WWW and non-WWW. which one should I choose and do them affect search rankings?

Waiting for your valuable answers.

www- world wide web is better for selecting website. Still now worldwide SEO or Google search engine showing the result including www. So it will be better if you choice www and do SEO with www- than it will be better for your website.

Thanks
Centurion

freebird37 · Jul 11, 2017

They're both in the same format, it's up to you which one you use or think is best, here's a short description. Using www is good for remembering the URL, non-www is faster and easier best if you'd rather not type in the www. It's best to pick one and stick with it.

overcast · Jul 13, 2017

I have set my clients for both www and without www. So this way the client doesn't have to worry about the issues on SEO side. Also it does not affect the traffic. I remember in one SEO post on MOZ about this. They said, it does not matter. Google too officially have no say on this matter. The reason being favoring either and you have tons of technical issues to sort out for clients. Search engines like Google and Bing already know this.

Server_Wala · Aug 14, 2017

Don't effect on ranking on Search Engine.

nairprasad7 · Sep 14, 2017

I don't think it really matters, the whole thing depends upon your content and backlink quality.

Jackleo7878 · Jul 27, 2020

I'd like to thanks to community cause, I have cleared my doubt through the community answers.

WWW vs non-WWW - Which one is Better for SEO?

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