"WWW." versus Non - "www."
-
Our web developer recently changed our preferred domain from "www.thinkbiglearnsmart.com" to "thinkbiglearnsmart.com" so when I check the authority of the "www." it is higher than the "thinkbiglearnsmart.com." do you have any insight onto if we should just make our preferred URL "www." because that's how it was for years? Is there a way just to merge the two back together so it is not sort of having different information for the same site?
Thank you!
-
Thank you so much!
I am contacting my developer about this!
-
Looking at OSE for that domain, both sites have links pointing to them. So a preferred version should be chosen, and as Dana suggested, a 301 put in place. Since G+ 1s were also considered a ranking factor in Moz's latest update, I would take that into account as well, but interestingly enough it looks like +1s are appropriately applied regardless of the www version.
You don't have a large amount of links or authority built up yet, so ultimately it will not make a huge difference which one you choose, but it is important to stick with one and ensure the other is 301'd appropriately. The non-www has more links, but the www has more links from different domains - so if you did make a choice I would choose the www to get the authority from more linking domains.
The www has slightly higher page authority as well.
www version:
Page Authortity: 35
Linking domains: 12
Total Links 22
G+ 1s: 36
Non WWW Version
Page Authority: 27
Domain Authority: 25
Linking Domains 4
Total Links 164
Google +1s: 36
In response to your WMT question, preferred domain settings are now in the top right hand corner as an option under the gear icon under "site settings"
-
Hi there - it is to the right at the top next to "help" under settings - It's called site settings!
-
Thanks so much Dana!
-
I don't see the set preferred url section in webmasters tool anymore.. any hint on that as well?
-
Yes, in my opinion you should change it back to the "www." version and set that as your preferred version in Google Webmaster Tools. Also, make sure you have your developer 301-redirect the non-www version to your "www." version. This will unify your domain authority, which it appears has been fragmented by the two co-existing. You want to give preference to the one with the strongest authority. In this case it sounds like the "www." version is the way to go.
Something else to keep in mind is to have consistency in the way you are linking. If "www." is your preferred, then make sure that you are using that version when requesting backlinks, leaving comments on a blog or even creating print pieces (i.e. business cards). It will encourage other people linking to you to use the preferred version.
Hope that helps!
Dana
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How do I pull "Mobile Rankings" in MOZ?
My client wants me to pull mobile-specific rankings through Moz's keyword explorer. Does anyone know if this is possible? Thanks!
Moz Bar | | TaylorAtVelox0 -
Moz says "Title Too Long", Yoast says title is the perfect length. Who's right?
For a bunch of my pages, the MOZ Crawl Report says "Title Too Long". Yoast on my site tells me that the titles are the correct length. How can these two things be at odds with each other? Which one is right?
Moz Bar | | TeamViviRealEstate0 -
Why doesn't the Keyword Explorer "Explore By Site" work?
Whatever page/domain url I put in here, I get a message coming up saying ""Getting rankings counts failed" Why does his happen? I can't find anything in the Help about this.
Moz Bar | | mfrgolfgti0 -
In the Moz Site Crawl, what does "External Links" mean?
I thought I knew what it meant but am finding instances where the value in the column, "Linking Root Domains" is greater than the value in the column, "External Links?" Thanks!
Moz Bar | | Edward_Sturm1 -
How does a non-traditional TLD impact Moz's crawl test?
I have a client who moved from a .com to .academy domain 6 months ago, and their current crawl tests are coming back with a universal page authority of 1, along with 0 indexed backlinks. The previous version of the site had an average page authority of 35-40, the site architecture and content are nearly identical, and there are no other errors or red flags in the crawl report that would hold back their organic rankings. In fact, looking at the site's analytics account, I can see dozens of sites that provide current and properly functioning backlinks, non of which are listed on the crawl test. So the question is - is Moz currently unable to properly crawl a .academy (or any other non-traditional TLD) site, or is there some deeper issue with the site's SEO that I'm not seeing? Thanks!
Moz Bar | | ThinkAOR1 -
On-Page Grader "Sorry, but that URL is inaccessible."
We have a new client with a squarespace page. http://www.mountainhouseestate.com The Moz On-Page grader returns the error "Sorry, but that URL is inaccessible." for all pages. Possibly related, Google seems to hate their site. Even a search for "mountain house estate" returns lousy results. Bing/Yahoo has no problem with it.
Moz Bar | | Duke_Ferris1 -
Google Analytics keeps disconnecting, requires "Reauthorization"
I have many campaigns connected to our Google Analytics account (all websites in same GA account) but I keep getting the message "Our connection to your Google Analytics account was lost. Don't worry, you won't lose any data. Please reauthorize now.". I go through the motions of "reauthorizing" and it tells me I'm successful. Minutes later it gives me the same message. I even keep my GA account logged in on the same computer, trying to avoid this. As a result, I'm not getting my Analytics data in my campaign. Help!
Moz Bar | | TotalMarketExposure0 -
Clarify "broad keyword usage in page title"
Hello Page grader has two different grades for page title that I want clarification on. There is "Broad Keyword Usage in Page Title" and "Exact Keyword Usage in Page Title". Googling around about and searching here I have found that "broad" seems to mean the keywords should be used throughout the page, rather than just in the title and header. Which makes sense as this is a kind of check to ensure the page IS about the keywords and not something unrelated. But what is meant by "broad" usage in the page title? This refers specifically to the page title and not the whole document. My best guess got me to this, given the keyword "Visit London Today"; "Come and visit London today" - exact match only "London - visit today" - broad match only "Visit London the city of dreams | visit London today" - matches both That could be complete nonsense, but basically is broad usage the use of keywords scattered in the page title? Thanks.
Moz Bar | | yolkcreative0