No www.

[greg2200]

If a website address does not have a www, will that effect any seo efferts?

Example:

http://domain.com

What do i need to do to correct this.? It just doesnt seem right.

[tx138]

It does not affect how your site ranks. You need to build all your backlinks to one form of the web address though.

These are all different as far as search engines are concerned:

http://www.domain.com
http://www.domain.com/index.html
http://domain.com
http://domain.com/index.html

It is known as url canonicalization. You can edit your .htaccess file to correct it.

Here is a post by Matt Cutts about the topic.

SEO advice: url canonicalization

[greg2200]

so if I have a http://domain.com should I create a 301 redirect to a www version.

[tx138]

This code works for Apache servers.

RewriteEngine on 
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} 
^mysite.com [NC] 
RewriteRule (.*) http://
www.mysite.com/$1 [L,R=301]

Hope this helps you out a bit, or at least puts you in the right direction.

[axus_auto]

If you are using Wordpress, go to your Dashboard > Settings > General

From there, change the Wordpress Address and Site Address to include the www

WordPress www and non-www

[timpears]

Originally Posted by axus_auto

If you are using Wordpress, go to your Dashboard > Settings > General

From there, change the Wordpress Address and Site Address to include the www

WordPress www and non-www

So is www. better than the non www.? Then why does WP seem to default to the non www., at least on my installs anyway?

[UMS]

www is neither better or worse than non-www. They both have the same affect.

Just choose one and be consistent with its use.

[ARVolund]

Originally Posted by greg2200

so if I have a http://domain.com should I create a 301 redirect to a www version.

No need for a redirect unless you have a lot of incoming links going to the wrong one or if you had inconsistent internal links at one time.As already noted it does not matter either way, some of my sites are one some are the other and the chances of ranking your site is the same with either.

What you do need to do is make sure that you are consistent with your link building efforts. If your site structure is setup using a www. then you need to make sure all the links you build use www. If your site structure is http: //yourdomain then you need to make sure all your incoming links are built that way.

Consistency is the key pick one and stick to it.

[App Developers]

Just choose one and be consistent. Not have a www doesn't matter at all.

[daleduan]

Originally Posted by tx138

This code works for Apache servers.

RewriteEngine on 
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} 
^mysite.com [NC] 
RewriteRule (.*) http://
www.mysite.com/$1 [L,R=301]

Hope this helps you out a bit, or at least puts you in the right direction.

I absolutely agree with tx138. You should make a 301 redirect from non-www to www or vice versa. It will be a big help on your SEO efforts especially when building backlinks. If you want to check it, try typing "google.com" on your web browser then see what happens.

[timpears]

Originally Posted by daleduan

I absolutely agree with tx138. You should make a 301 redirect from non-www to www or vice versa. It will be a big help on your SEO efforts especially when building backlinks. If you want to check it, try typing "google.com" on your web browser then see what happens.

Most of the time, I don't type the http:// or the www. when I direct type in a URL, and unless I type it wrong, I get the site I want. So it doesn't seem to matter. I have even tried to add the www. in front if a site URL doesn't have them, and I will still get the site to come up right every time.

And by the way, if you type in google.com into your browser address, you will be taken to Google, if anyone was confused by that.

[alxvallejo]

Ok, so everyone's in agreement: be consistent with your URLs both internally and externally and in your sitemap.

But why? Canonicalization is when Google decides a format to go with if there are multiple formats of the URL.

So what? I've never had a case where I've typed in the non-correct format URL and have an error. Never. Can someone give me an example of a slight variant of a URL failing to be redirected to the proper URL? I've never seen this happen.

[livemusic]

Originally Posted by tx138

This code works for Apache servers.

RewriteEngine on 
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} 
^mysite.com [NC] 
RewriteRule (.*) http://
www.mysite.com/$1 [L,R=301]

Hope this helps you out a bit, or at least puts you in the right direction.

How, exactly, do you do this? Where do you put this code? Anyone have detailed instructions? Thanks.

[tx138]

Originally Posted by alxvallejo

So what? I've never had a case where I've typed in the non-correct format URL and have an error.

There shouldn't be an error when you type in the "non-correct format" URL. What I understood was that greg was looking for was a way to add a www. in front of his domain name because it was not showing up the way he wanted it to. If you type in warriorforum.com in the address bar, it will show www.warriorforum.com
Some sites will leave off the www if you type the domain name without it.

Originally Posted by livemusic

How, exactly, do you do this? Where do you put this code? Anyone have detailed instructions? Thanks.

Just add the code to your .htaccess file. Your .htaccess file is located in your root folder of the domain that you are wanting to redirect. You can probably ask your hosting provider to see if they will add the code for you if you want.

301 Redirects. How to Redirect your Domain or Website

Just look on the navigation on the left to find info for what you want to do.

[alxvallejo]

So, from an SEO POV, what's the drawback for inconsistent URL formats if they all point to the same place.

What's the drawback with inconsistency? Is it link juice?

Fact or fiction: Inconsistent URL formats result in lower link juice to the same domain which results in lower rankings.

From an SEO POV, aren't we only concerned about rankings?

[Sitemapper]

In past it would lead to less link juice since you spread it out between two duplicate pages (with-www and non-www)

maybe search engines are smart enough to handle that today... But really, whhy not just fix it? It is easy to fix.

[alxvallejo]

Originally Posted by dianeforster

the formal url www.domain.com is better u can use.

SEO Training | Search Engine Optimisation

Please elaborate