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

Marc0

Well-known member
Registered
Joined
Jun 6, 2012
Messages
890
Points
28
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

Well-known member
Registered
Joined
Mar 15, 2015
Messages
654
Points
0
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

Well-known member
Registered
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
333
Points
43
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

Well-known member
Registered
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Messages
287
Points
0
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

Well-known member
Registered
Joined
Aug 25, 2016
Messages
364
Points
0
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

Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 28, 2016
Messages
64
Points
0
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

Well-known member
Hosting Provider
Registered
Joined
Nov 26, 2014
Messages
374
Points
28
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

New member
Registered
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Messages
7
Points
0
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

Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Messages
46
Points
8
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

New member
Registered
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Messages
5
Points
0
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

Well-known member
Registered
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Messages
88
Points
0
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.
 

nairprasad7

New member
Registered
Joined
Aug 2, 2016
Messages
14
Points
3
I don't think it really matters, the whole thing depends upon your content and backlink quality.
 
Recommended Threads
Replies
3
Views
2,020
Replies
10
Views
5,775
Replies
14
Views
5,048
Replies
15
Views
5,986
Replies
2
Views
2,178
Similar Threads

Latest Hosting OffersNew Reviews

Sponsors

Tag Cloud

You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.

Top