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Seems I have a www and a non www version of my site, how do i fix this?

by Bruce99
13 replies
Hi,

Recently a friend of mine noticed that I have both www and naked (non www) versions of my site.

I thought that I would just automatically get the www, and I have only paid for one hosting for it ..

OK, i have no idea of the difference, but was told because the non www was not redirecting to the www version, and that they seem to have different link profiles, that they may be harming my rankings or at least google may not like it that they seem as diff sites or have duplicate content.

Both my dog sites in the sig actually have www and non www versions in google webmaster tools. I wondered about that but didnt do anything about it because i didnt think there was an issue.

Could you please tell me if these two versions of the sites are causing issues and what do do about it. YES I AM A NEWBIE for life!
#fix #site #version #www
  • Profile picture of the author jamesrich1
    Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

    YES I AM A NEWBIE for life!
    I am sorry but I do not have specific information to help you clarify your two alternate versions of your site but I noticed this statement at the end of reading your problem. I understand your proud but being excited about being a beginner is like a karate student wanting to stay as a white belt indefinitely. Think about that. You do not want to advance each belt until black belt?
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Bruce, set your preferred domain within Google's Webmaster Tools under CONFIGURATION > SETTINGS.

    Select either www. or non www.

    You might want to push everything across to your preferred domain by editing your htaccess file also..

    To push to the www version

    Code:
    RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www. RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]
    Non www version

    Code:
    RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^my-domain.com$ [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://my-domain.com/$1 [R=301,L]
    In order to set your preferred domain, you will need to validate ownership of both domains within GWT.

    Hope this helps mate.
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    BS free SEO services, training and advice - SEO Point

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    • Profile picture of the author Bruce99
      hi John,

      Inside of google tools it says "Preferred domain. To Google, Example Domain and Example Domain are entirely different sites. So are Example Domain and https://example.com. Sitemaps you've submitted for the site Example Domain won't be visible in the Webmaster Tools page for Example Domain. To address this issue, make sure you've added all versions of your site, and then tell Google your preferred domain."

      I found this because google doesnt like my plugin generated site map because it is html, so will have to sort that out too it seems.

      About specifically your instructions ... I can access the htaccess via ftp, but I will be only modifying one file as I only have he www version? Where exactly do I put the line of code in the file? Is there any background articles you can point me to about this? I have no idea why it happened. I just hosted the sits and only became aware of a potential issue today.


      how do i choose which is the main site, and does it matter regarding links - are all the link power for one or the other directed to the other site by this line of code?
      Signature

      just a dog guy.

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      • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
        Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

        To address this issue, make sure you've added all versions of your site, and then tell Google your preferred domain."
        Yep. As I said above, you will need to add BOTH domains within GWT, then validate them both. I do this by uploading a simple HTML file. I know it seems silly adding both, but I am pretty sure that once you have it working that you can *remove* the unwanted domain from GWT (without it affecting the setup)

        Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

        I found this because google doesnt like my plugin generated site map because it is html, so will have to sort that out too it seems.
        You've lost me here. If you're using a plugin that is causing issues, consider getting rid of it.

        How do you know for certain that it is causing issues?

        Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

        About specifically your instructions ... I can access the htaccess via ftp, but I will be only modifying one file as I only have he www version?
        Yes, that's right.

        Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

        Where exactly do I put the line of code in the file? Is there any background articles you can point me to about this?
        If you're not sure - get someone to help you. Messing up your htaccess file can cause all sorts of issues. If you want, PM me and I'll have a look.

        Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

        how do i choose which is the main site, and does it matter regarding links - are all the link power for one or the other directed to the other site by this line of code?
        As far as I know, once you set your preferred domain, Google is smart enough to push all of the links to the non preferred domain over to your preferred domain.

        Aha, yes they do. Confirmed. See this article below.

        Preferred domain (www or non-www) - Webmaster Tools Help

        Just set your preferred domain within GWT.

        The htaccess alteration isn't compulsory, but it is nice to have.

        As for choosing the right domain - that's entirely up to you. I like to set mine to www (mainly because that's what people expect)
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        BS free SEO services, training and advice - SEO Point

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        • Profile picture of the author Bruce99
          >>> You've lost me here. If you're using a plugin that is causing issues, consider getting rid of it. How do you know for certain that it is causing issues?

          Hi John,

          You are right sounds like i need another site map generator ... added to the list. The reason I "know" is that I have a site map on both sites. It is html. Google in webmasters says " Sitemaps are a way to tell Google about pages on your site we might not otherwise discover. In its simplest terms, a XML Sitemap--usually called Sitemap"

          I read somewhere that google doesnt accept html site maps, and in webmasters the html version isnt accepted (says no site map found)


          >> If you're not sure - get someone to help you. Messing up your htaccess file can cause all sorts of issues. If you want, PM me and I'll have a look.

          Its not as simple as putting it below the /head tag or something?

          >>>>As far as I know, once you set your preferred domain, Google is smart enough to push all of the links to the non preferred domain over to your preferred domain.

          I have just set my preferred domains for the two domains in the sig. ALways wondered why tools showed two sites, and while I still dont know why, at least I have defined which ones are preferred!

          A friend of mine checked majestic and the www's seemed to have better links so we went with that ...
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          just a dog guy.

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          • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
            Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

            You are right sounds like i need another site map generator ... added to the list. The reason I "know" is that I have a site map on both sites. It is html. Google in webmasters says " Sitemaps are a way to tell Google about pages on your site we might not otherwise discover. In its simplest terms, a XML Sitemap—usually called Sitemap"

            I read somewhere that google doesnt accept html site maps, and in webmasters the html version isnt accepted (says no site map found)
            Ahh, gotcha. Of course. Yes, you need to submit an XML sitemap. Its easy to generate one - just go here and enter your url.

            Create your Google Sitemap Online - XML Sitemaps Generator

            Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

            Its not as simple as putting it below the /head tag or something?
            There is no head tag in the htaccess file. I dont know how your htaccess file is configured, so I cant say. The htaccess file isnt something you want to screw up. I would advise backing up your original htaccess file, just incase you need to roll back, then entering in the examples shown above. Its easy to test it - just type in both variations (www and non www) and test it

            Originally Posted by Bruce99 View Post

            I have just set my preferred domains for the two domains in the sig. ALways wondered why tools showed two sites, and while I still dont know why, at least I have defined which ones are preferred!

            A friend of mine checked majestic and the www's seemed to have better links so we went with that ...
            Ok, good stuff.
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            BS free SEO services, training and advice - SEO Point

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            • Profile picture of the author shnize
              Has anyone been able to find out if a site is using both of the Non-www and www? That is something I would like to know for a potential client without having to go too deep.

              Screaming Frog doesn't handle it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce99
    About rel="canonical" - Webmaster Tools Help

    matt cutts in an old video talking about putting cononcal tags in the header of all pages, but maybe its moved on from there...
    Signature

    just a dog guy.

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  • Profile picture of the author yakim1
    When setting up my software to do cookies, I discovered the difference between www and non www addresses. The non www address is the parent domain and the www is the child domain.

    I was important to set all cookies using the parent or non www domain. Because people use different browsers, it was important to know that when the non www domain address was used in the cookie that the cookie was always recognized by the browser.

    This was not alway true when the www domain address was used.

    Other than this one techical application, I do not think that it really matters how Google lists your website address as long as the link gets the visitor to your page.

    If setting something up so your website displayed the non www address would be the most desireable for my uses.

    I hope this will help,
    Steve Yakim
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  • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
    I have used the .htaccess file method for years to create a clean looking domain. This will tell all search engines to index only the version you want. I hate domains with the www at the beginning, especially for branding like stickers, adverts etc. SERPs can index both versions so a canonical redirect is imperative.

    Remember this is a system file, so it will be hidden on your computer until you open the local website folder in a text editor such as TextMate or Notepad++. This will display the file for you to edit. You can also create a local file within the text editor if there isn't one. Remember to add the .(dot) at the beginning of the file name and confirm you want to create it. To see it locally, set the view hidden files option to true within the Windows folders settings. On a Mac, there are a few widgets for the dashboard to show hidden files. You can then send it up to your server via FTP, or simply create it on the server live. I prefer a local copy of everything for editing before sending it live.

    Add the following code to the .htaccess file to redirect the www version, to a non www version. So - www . example.com becomes example.com in the SERPs. If both versions are indexed already, it will drop the www version over time. Replace the example domain with your own. If you are in WP, take a site backup, then edit the .htaccess file in the Wordpress install root folder.

    Add the following code and remove the space after the www.

    Options +FollowSymLinks
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www .example.com [NC]
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

    If you get an error when you visit your site, remove the Options +FollowSymLinks line.

    To test the site to see if its redirecting correctly, go the page below and enter your URL in the box, and search for all factors. Hit the GET CHECKUP button and let it do its thing. Scroll down a bit and you will see the results for - URL Canonicalization. You are looking for a green dot on the right with congratulations to say its working.

    SEO Tools, Software and Articles - SEO Site Checkup
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  • Profile picture of the author yakim1
    When I input one of my domains addresses in the browser it does not use the www. But if I input the www I still get to my website.

    So I don't think it really matters unless you are using cookies on your site.

    Best regards,
    Steve Yakim
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post

      When I input one of my domains addresses in the browser it does not use the www. But if I input the www I still get to my website.

      So I don't think it really matters unless you are using cookies on your site.
      No, this isn't right at all, Steve.

      "Getting to your site" isn't all that matters for backlinks.

      You need to choose either the "with www" version or the "without www" version and build all your backlinks to that version. There's no point in diluting your off-page SEO unnecessarily. They're two different url's.

      You can easily redirect one to the other (either way round).

      One is, in fact, a subdomain of the other. (You could, if you wanted to, put up two completely different sites on the two different url's).
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  • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
    Originally Posted by yakim1 View Post


    I do not think that it really matters how Google lists your website address as long as the link gets the visitor to your page.
    This is incorrect, it does matter how a search engine lists your website for a few reasons. They don't know which version(s) to include in their index. They don't know whether to direct link juice (authority, anchor text, trust etc) to just the one page, or split it over multiple versions. This leads to them not knowing which version(s) to rank in query results. Result - you lose money.
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