Domain access without www, is it ok?

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So, I've just bought an hostigator hosting plan and my primary domain name is without www, and installed wordpress. Is it ok to have the domain name without www?
When I will backlink or will add the url to google, what domain should I use?

thanks
#main internet marketing discussion forum #access #domain #www
  • yes this is fine
    • [1] reply
    • You can use whichever you prefer but it's best to stick to just one. You can let google know your preferred setting in Webmaster tools.
  • It doesn't matter which you choose (www or not) so long as you choose one and stick with it.

    Wordpress will force one, so if somebody enters the www they will be redirected to non-www. (or vice versa, depending on your settings)

    If your site is accessible by both www and non-www you may be hurtingyour search rankings, as these will be percieved as different websites by Google, splitting your page rank between the two.

    You can also choose your preference for one or the other when you set up your site with Google Webmaster Tools.

    -Ryan
  • You'll probably find that you can access your site with or without the www. When you start building links, pick one and be consistent. The same goes for internal linking.

    I usually don't use the www, myself. To me, it looks cleaner, and if nothing else, gives me four more characters when entering in forms fields that limit characters.

    Some will advise using the www because that's what people are used to typing. I don't worry about it because they'll get to the right page either way.
  • Banned
    Yes, it's fine.

    Without "www", if in doubt.

    I once had exactly this situation with Hostgator. I asked their live online support people about it. They actually fiddled with something (I didn't understand what, when they explained it to me) and fixed it so that I could use it either with or without the "www", I suspect by redirecting one to the other, or something. But this really wasn't necessary. (Ask them, though: they're very friendly and efficient).
    • [1] reply
    • I have an authority domain and it took me some time but one day I realized I did not have a www in their. Not sure why it took so long lol.

      Anyway I use spread sheets when I build my links and copy and paste the URL directly from the spread sheet. So happily I was building all my links to the correct locations. Occassionally I build my site to the main domain root name also with the www. But it has not been a problem.

      Make sure you also include the trailing slash if you have one also. I build links to the exact URL as it is indexed.
  • make sure when backlinking not to include the www. in your link, as pr would be spread between the www. and the one without. other than that your fine. better off actually as most people linking in don't put the www.

    also make sure your WordPress install has the htaccess set to re-write the url to remove the www. if someone hits with it
  • Just to be safe, create a .htaccess file that redirects to your preferred URL (www or non-WWW). That way, any links you get will all go to the same place i.e if someone links to you using http://yoursite.com and you use http://www.yoursite.com .htaccess will do the redirection.
    • [1] reply
  • Either way it is fine. Taking out the www makes it shorter though, which I like.
  • Nowadays, www is kind of obsolete. So, don't worry)
    • [1] reply
    • thank you ALL for your answers

      I remain with domain without www

      for now the www. mydomain.com automatically redirects to mydomain.com so I suppose that I don't need to modify the .htaccess
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    Domain access without www, is it ok?

    So, I've just bought an hostigator hosting plan and my primary domain name is without www, and installed wordpress. Is it ok to have the domain name without www? When I will backlink or will add the url to google, what domain should I use?