For many that are setting up their first website, the question of whether they need to include “www” at the start of their URL can be a confusing one. Even worse, it can be one of a hoard of questions that you might have. In this guide, we’ll clear the question up for you to take a little bit of weight off your shoulders. So is it better to use www or not for SEO?
In terms of SEO, it doesn’t matter whether or not “www” is used. Search engines do not have a preference for either option, and one won’t rank higher than the other. The important factor is consistency. Pick one and use it correctly across the entire site instead of switching back and forth.
Read on to find out more about the effect of choosing www or not, why it’s no longer necessary, and how to choose.
Is It Better To Have the “www” or Not?
In general, whether you choose to use www or not doesn’t affect your SEO at all. Search engines don’t prefer one or the other, so it won’t affect any of your rankings in any way.
With that being said, what is important is consistency. You need to ensure that you’ve properly configured ONE of the options across your entire site. This will avoid any duplicated pages, where a page is visible on both www and non-www. Misconfiguring one of the options can lead to SEO penalties.
For information on duplicate pages, read our blog on why duplicate pages are bad for SEO, or to find out about Google penalties, read our guide: What is a Google penalty?
Why Is “www” No Longer Needed?
Technically, www. has never actually been needed. The only reason it actually exists is to identify the web address. It’s been around since the beginning of the world wide web, which is what www stands for. As the world wide web started, www was used to identify the fact that the website was on the world wide web.
Nowadays, everyone knows it’s on the world wide web, and using www isn’t actually necessary.
Should I Use SEO With or Without “www”?
Whether you should use www or not is entirely up to you. As there is no SEO impact or technical benefit of using one over the other, you can make this decision based only on the stylistic aspect of your URL.
If you have a website name that looks and sounds better without using www, go for it. If you prefer to use the old standard, go for that. In general, if you’re making a website for a modern start up in something like the tech industry, it might make more sense to omit it from the URL to seem up-to-date on trends. However, if your business is in a traditional niche like lawyers or finance, including www might offer a more official feel.
For more information about formatting your URL, read our guide on how to format a URL for SEO.
Easy Technical SEO With Wildcat Digital
At Wildcat Digital, we understand that as a business owner, trailing through hours of research to make sure your site can rank is a waste of time that could be spent on growing your business. We provide a wide range of SEO services that we love to start from scratch, providing tailored advice so that you can grow your website from the ground up. Alternatively, if you’ve already got started, we can perform a technical audit to inform you of how we can improve your site!If you’re looking to start your own digital journey, visit our SEO page or get in touch with us and we’ll help you understand your target market and how SEO could benefit you!
Jamie Stowe
Senior SEO Account Manager
