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Does (www.) in Your Domain Matter or Not?

by Moneyland
16 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have just had a WP blog created and in the brief I just put the domain details down excluding the www. really by mistake. The site is finished and I asked for the www. to be added. The developer then said that not sure if this can be done without messing with the login and permalink. Can you check with your host to find out.

I checked with Godaddy and they said it is hassle with redirects and will affect updates etc and that it will not affect the site in any way. They said no matter what someone types in it automatically brings the site up which it does. I asked about SEO and they said it makes no difference.

I just thought you could easily change this in "General Settings?"

Does it really make any difference with or without - are there any pitfalls of not having it in :confused:

Any comments appreciated
#domain #matter #www
  • Profile picture of the author WinstonTian
    www.website.com
    &
    website.com

    ..does have differences. That can be easily fixed by using Google
    Webmaster Tools to recognize both as the same site and display
    just one instance of it. Otherwise, it could potentially attribute as
    a "duplicate page", where you may have two informational nodes
    fighting for a competitive spot in the organic listing.

    You could also simply just add a link rel tag to canonicalize the
    page.

    Winston Tian
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    Winston
    The Beginner's Doctor

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    • Profile picture of the author Moneyland
      Originally Posted by WinstonTian View Post

      www.website.com
      &
      website.com

      ..does have differences. That can be easily fixed by using Google
      Webmaster Tools to recognize both as the same site and display
      just one instance of it. Otherwise, it could potentially attribute as
      a "duplicate page", where you may have two informational nodes
      fighting for a competitive spot in the organic listing.

      You could also simply just add a link rel tag to canonicalize the
      page.

      Winston Tian

      Many thanks,

      I am in Google tools and can't quite figure what I need to do - could you or anyone one else let me know exactly what I need to to fix this..

      Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author pennyroll
    I had the same issue and wrote about my experience with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author JeffHylands
    Yep they both rank different. When I outsource to my seo guys at the beginning I noticed they would mix and match meaning they would use both instances of the same url with or without the www. It's great long term if you want double listings for one page but make sure you are consistent with building links to one url if you want quicker rankings.
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  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    Originally Posted by Moneyland View Post

    I have just had a WP blog created and in the brief I just put the domain details down excluding the www. really by mistake. The site is finished and I asked for the www. to be added. The developer then said that not sure if this can be done without messing with the login and permalink. Can you check with your host to find out.
    Unfortunately your developer is clueless on this matter.

    I checked with Godaddy and they said it is hassle with redirects and will affect updates etc and that it will not affect the site in any way. They said no matter what someone types in it automatically brings the site up which it does. I asked about SEO and they said it makes no difference.
    Godaddy is half right. They are completely incorrect about it being a hassle to do redirects and updates.

    I just thought you could easily change this in "General Settings?"
    That's quite correct. People make this whole task out to be much harder than it really is.

    WordPress will automatically create a redirect from the non-www version of your domain to the www version of your domain or vice-versa.

    From an SEO perspective, in the past I would have recommended to only stick with one version and make sure all the backlinks use that version, however, in the post Panda/Penguin world it would logically be more natural to have a combination of the two as that's what would happen in the "real world" when people are creating backlinks to a site.

    The main thing is to just make sure there is a 301 redirect in place (which WP does by default) to point to your preferred version of the domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    All you need to do is set your preferred domain version under General->Settings in WordPress. Simple.
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  • Profile picture of the author rightseosteps
    In terms of ranking sit does matter great. When linking you nee dto focus on one type of links with or without the www. but if i were to just type the domain down it doesn't make a difference. It's only the difference in backlinks.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    All that matters is you pick one (www or non-www) & stick with it for all of eternity. Do a redirect on the one you don't pick to catch any links other sites/people build.
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    • Profile picture of the author UMS
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      All that matters is you pick one (www or non-www) & stick with it for all of eternity. Do a redirect on the one you don't pick to catch any links other sites/people build.
      As I previously mentioned, that would have been my advice a few months ago, however since the Panda/Penguin updates, I suspect (note that I don't have any hard evidence for this) that building backlinks to only one version of the domain looks unnatural.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by UMS View Post

        As I previously mentioned, that would have been my advice a few months ago, however since the Panda/Penguin updates, I suspect (note that I don't have any hard evidence for this) that building backlinks to only one version of the domain looks unnatural.
        I see what your saying & chances are a site will get natural links (even crappy sites) over time, that use the www version you didn't pick.

        Still, even in GWT, Google ask which version you prefer, to try & catch both versions of the URL.

        Then you have separate result numbers depending on which site: you search:

        Even though Google claims they will redirect to your chosen URL, after seeing different SERP numbers based on site:, looks like they count them differently.

        Even a site with 100% natural links will still probably have a majority of their links with one www URL type (not all, but most).

        I guess the important part (IMO) is directing the www version you didn't pick to the www version you actually want to use for the site.

        I remember back when Yahoo Explorer (RIP) was around, you could see drastic differences in link numbers depending how you search YE (ex: www or non-www). Just saying...
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  • Profile picture of the author Sania Wyatt
    Just go to "google webmaster tools". Search for it in google.

    Add your site. Confirm it. Then you can change the redirect in the options.

    If you have trouble confirming it, just ask your webmaster to upload a file you'll get in your google webmaster panel to your host before confirming.
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  • Profile picture of the author easypr
    Having www in domain or not is does matter in general term. But in SEO term www website & without www website are two different sites, you will have to redirect to one. Their is lots of website in market who runs without www like twitter etc. In wordpress their is an options to solve the canonical issue of your website. And always remember when you redirect website always use 301 redirection method.
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  • Profile picture of the author cackalacky
    Maybe this doesn't impact you but if you are an Adsense user the default "Sites" report will separate your www impressions/revenue numbers from the non www version. This is how I first noticed I had some sites where the 301 redirection wasn't setup. I am not sure if this affects custom URL channels though.
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  • Profile picture of the author IMSince2003
    When I setup a site with wordpress, I like to go to the settings and make the url www.mywpsite.com and make sure that the redirect is in place in cPanel. Many people still think World Wide Web, so I like to keep the www. Maybe someday nobody will think about it and the www will disappear.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jim Hughes
    It doesn't matter which format you pick. What does matter is you pick one and stick with it. In other words, any links you create should be the same format (either all with www or all without www).

    There is a setting in Wordpress to choose which one you want.

    The GWT advice above is good.
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