Today I’m answering a question from Debbie, and Debbie asks:
“Is it better to go with a www or a non www address?”
It’s an interesting question, but before we get stuck in, one important thing to note is that from an SEO point of view, there’s no advantage of one over the other, they’re exactly the same.
So, from an SEO point of view, it doesn’t really make any difference.
Now if you have a brand new website, really the choice is yours. If you haven’t registered your domain or done anything yet, you can choose with of the options you want to go with.
One thing to think about is that www is kind of synonymous with websites. People expect that; especially people who are a bit less tech savvy, or a slightly older generation, that might be a bit patronising, but I think it applies.
So if you have a think about your audience and what level of tech understanding they have, and will it be easier for them to get they’re visiting your website if you type in www.
If you have an existing website, you’re going to have to think about a few other factors when you’re deciding your preference.
The first is which of the two has the most domain authority and the most links coming into it.
One way you can check this is to use Moz’s, moz.com Open Site Explorer tool. So type both versions of the URL into the tool, and see which one has the higher domain authority and the most links.
The one that’s higher, you’d probably choose that one, and then redirect the less important one to the more successful one.
Another thing you can do is to check in Google search which version of your URL is appearing in Google search. So to do this just type in your brand name without the www and the .com.au or .com, just the brand name into Google and see what comes up. Is the website coming up with the www or without? Again, whichever one Google search has indexed would probably be the better one to go with.
Now when you have made your decision about which one you want to go with, I would suggest that you go into Google Search Console (which used to be known as Google Webmaster Tools) and set your preference.
It’s fairly straightforward to do, you’ll just need to verify your site and you’ll be away. And that will make it easier for Google to understand which version you’ve chosen.
So, in summary, there’s no real difference between going with the www or without, from and SEO point of view. It’s all about personal preference.
Thanks for watching the video, if you have a question head to www.therecipeforseosuccess.com.au and shoot me a contact message and I’ll try and answer your question in one of the future videos.
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