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Backlinks: Does your exact domain name matter?

by missmystery
18 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Ok So I just checked out my links.

It seems

Code:
aspergersgirl.com
only has 12 inlinks

yet

Code:
www.aspergersgirl.com
has over 5000

What difference does this make building backlinks to your domain with the www attached?

Should I just be building for the domain without the www?
#backlinks #domain #exact #matter
  • Profile picture of the author Do
    it doesn't matter, google knows this, diversify your linking target benifit your seo
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    It does matter... usually matters more when the links are split more than that.

    301 redirect your non www version to the www version so you get some credit for that.
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      It does matter... usually matters more when the links are split more than that.

      301 redirect your non www version to the www version so you get some credit for that.
      Agreed, absolutely it matters.

      In OPs case 12 links isn't much, still I would redirect all non-www to www for future links.

      Also make it a point to only build www backlinks in the future since that has the the most existing links already for your specific site.
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    • Profile picture of the author pagunston
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      It does matter... usually matters more when the links are split more than that.

      301 redirect your non www version to the www version so you get some credit for that.
      How do you 301 redirect?
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  • Profile picture of the author StarN9
    As of my best knowledge it really matters
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  • Profile picture of the author CarlosRubio
    It does matter indeed


    Pick up either 'www' or 'non-www' and stick with it as your canonical url.

    Redirect the other option to your selected canonical url and you are good to go
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  • Profile picture of the author C Rebecca
    Well, your backlinks are splitting between two versions of your website...

    This is why it is always advised to merge your both versions, either by setting your preferred domain in Google Webmaster tools or by redirecting your one version to your main version.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Yep, matters a lot.

      there's a few different variations of your url... just stick to 1 for your backlinking... I used a service before, and they didn't include the / after my url... so I got them to redoo it.

      so, .com is different to .com/

      careful now.
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  • Profile picture of the author missmystery
    I don't know what to do! It's all brain fart. Do I say something to my web host? How many different versions are there? How do I find out? Do I redirect them all to one?

    I have thousands and thousands of links on my site as it contains a message board and a blog.. I mean yes the www version and the non www version are two.. but what about the rest?

    I've got an url with the old / after it, too, but I'm not sure how many other hundreds there are on the other pages.

    I mean, does my myths page count as having "similar content" as the index page?
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by missmystery View Post

      I don't know what to do! It's all brain fart. Do I say something to my web host? How many different versions are there? How do I find out? Do I redirect them all to one?
      Well... don't redirect them all to one, for a start. But do choose a couple, your homepage and some internal pages... and keep those url's consistent.

      So, if your homepage is www.site.com/, keep it as that, don't also use site.com/, www.site.com, www.site.com/index.html etc...

      Same goes for your internal pages, www.site.com/page1.html, not site.com/page1.html
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      • Profile picture of the author missmystery
        Originally Posted by thedog View Post

        Well... don't redirect them all to one, for a start. But do choose a couple, your homepage and some internal pages... and keep those url's consistent.

        So, if your homepage is www.site.com/, keep it as that, don't also use site.com/, www.site.com, www.site.com/index.html etc...

        Same goes for your internal pages, www.site.com/page1.html, not site.com/page1.html
        I see... So just do he old redirect to the www URL in that case as it has the most links.. and select the www for the conical?

        Is it that simple? Perhaps I'm complicating things..
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        • Profile picture of the author thedog
          Originally Posted by missmystery View Post

          I see... So just do he old redirect to the www URL in that case as it has the most links.. and select the www for the conical?

          Is it that simple? Perhaps I'm complicating things..
          Yes, you're over complicating things.

          Just use consistent urls when backlinking.
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          • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
            You just need to do the non-www to www 301 redirect.
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            • Profile picture of the author spherevoice
              Banned
              [DELETED]
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              • Profile picture of the author thedog
                Originally Posted by spherevoice View Post

                Exact domain name does matter but when it comes to SEO it has very little impact. Also, it helps your visitors know what the website is about before they click on your website link from search engine. Your main focus should be on Title tag.
                Sorry, an EMD will help your rankings, .com, .org or .net
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  • Profile picture of the author missmystery
    Thanks everyone. I'll talk to my web host about the redirects
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  • Profile picture of the author julianbooth123
    Yes it surely matters and you should 301 redirect the non www url to the www url as soon as possible otherwise you might face the duplication issue for your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kris79
    It matters to you Google rankings.
    For google technical point of view your domain has at leat to names:
    - without "www"
    - with "www"
    to you it might seems the same but in reality there are 2 different domains.
    You need to:
    1. decide what type of address will you be using and stick to it all the time, everywhere
    2. make a 301 redirect in you hosting account or directly in .htaccess file.
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