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  4. Changing url from non www to www.

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Changing url from non www to www.

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  • FLEAR
    FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 12:36 PM

    basically I have realised i have more page authority and links going to www.onestopmuscle.co.uk instead of onestopmuscle.co.uk. I use wordpress and have no clue how to make sure onestopmuscle.co.uk redirects to www. version.

    anyone have any ideas? I don't want to mess about with files or i'll most likely make the blog into a disaster.

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • SEODinosaur
      SEODinosaur @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 6:13 PM Aug 29, 2012, 6:13 PM

      I agree with George _"Wordpress 301 redirects the links from the non-www URL to the www URL so your link juice should still flow to the new URLs and the shared links will still resolve to the right page" _in the long run this will conserve you link juice.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • GeorgeAndrews
        GeorgeAndrews @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 5:27 PM Aug 29, 2012, 5:26 PM

        Excellent news that you were able to get it to work.

        I'd say yes your social media links have zeroed out because they used the old URL without the www. It's not a Google thing though and won't be fixed by re-indexing the site. However, my understanding is that Wordpress 301 redirects the links from the non-www URL to the www URL so your link juice should still flow to the new URLs and the shared links will still resolve to the right page. The only caveat is that the actual number for likes and shares in your social share buttons has reset to 0.

        In my opinion, it's a good move (you're just missing the "eye-candy" for now) and this number will rise again as people begin to share using the new URLs.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • FLEAR
          FLEAR @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 4:45 PM Aug 29, 2012, 4:45 PM

          hey guys, finally had the balls to change the site url on the wordpress backend to contain www. ( did it on a old site and it messed it up ) and that worked!! Strange tho seems all my social media likes and shares have gone from the site, everything is at zero... not sure why maybe google needs to index all the pages again?

          I do have more links and more page authority with www. than without, so im hoping its a good move.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • SEODinosaur
            SEODinosaur @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 4:22 PM Aug 29, 2012, 4:22 PM

            No prob : ) Let us know how it works out..

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • FLEAR
              FLEAR @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 4:16 PM Aug 29, 2012, 4:16 PM

              so i create a .htaccess file, get all the right code for the redirects. upload that .htaccess file to the index.php file? I'll phone my hosting tomorrow see if they can sort it, but thanks everyone who has responded helped a lot.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • GeorgeAndrews
                GeorgeAndrews @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 2:11 PM Aug 29, 2012, 2:06 PM

                Edit: just saw you have already checked with FileZilla. I've created a new htaccess file and pasted in what Wordpress provides as an example then uploaded the new htaccess file to fix this on other sites.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • FLEAR
                  FLEAR @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 1:47 PM Aug 29, 2012, 1:47 PM

                  tried going into filezilla, cannot find a .htaccess file. I will phone up my hosting.

                  thanks

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • SEODinosaur
                    SEODinosaur @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 1:43 PM Aug 29, 2012, 1:42 PM

                    Do you have anything redirecting in your htaccess file? It could be that or it could be on the hosting end...

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • FLEAR
                      FLEAR @GeorgeAndrews last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 1:25 PM Aug 29, 2012, 1:25 PM

                      have changed it to include www. but it still redirects to onestopmuscle.co.uk ( without the www ) :@. this is soo annoying and I know it is probably such a simple fix.

                      SEODinosaur FLEAR GeorgeAndrews 8 Replies Last reply Aug 29, 2012, 6:13 PM Reply Quote 0
                      • SEODinosaur
                        SEODinosaur @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 1:06 PM Aug 29, 2012, 1:06 PM

                        The wordpress which is the site.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • SEODinosaur
                          SEODinosaur @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 1:04 PM Aug 29, 2012, 1:04 PM

                          Exactly, and as George said :   "you are likely logged in at the old sub-domain of simply onestopmuscle.co.uk rather than the new sub-domain of www.onestopmuscle.co.uk"

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • FLEAR
                            FLEAR @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 1:04 PM Aug 29, 2012, 1:04 PM

                            do i change the site address url to include www. also? or just the wordpress url part? thanks for the help!

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • GeorgeAndrews
                              GeorgeAndrews @FLEAR last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 12:59 PM Aug 29, 2012, 12:59 PM

                              Hi Scott, yes, this should be correct. After updating this value, you may need to log back in to continue using the admin area. This is because you are likely logged in at the old sub-domain of simply onestopmuscle.co.uk rather than the new sub-domain of www.onestopmuscle.co.uk and with the new redirect, you have to log in again. It's kind of strange behavior I know :).

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • GeorgeAndrews
                                GeorgeAndrews last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 12:56 PM Aug 29, 2012, 12:56 PM

                                In the Wordpress admin area, under General Settings, there is a input for WordPress Address (URL). Here, you can set the URL you would like to use for your base URL (e.g. http://www.example.com/). If you use www. here, your pages should use the www. version.

                                Hope this helps!

                                FLEAR 1 Reply Last reply Aug 29, 2012, 1:25 PM Reply Quote 0
                                • FLEAR
                                  FLEAR @SEODinosaur last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 12:51 PM Aug 29, 2012, 12:51 PM

                                  settings > general settings

                                  wordpress url: http://onestopmuscle.co.uk

                                  site address url: http://onestopmuscle.co.uk

                                  So if i change both to have www. it wont cause any problems with the site content on there already? I'm sure I did this before and i couldn't even log into the site! ( old site ).

                                  GeorgeAndrews FLEAR SEODinosaur 4 Replies Last reply Aug 29, 2012, 1:06 PM Reply Quote 1
                                  • SEODinosaur
                                    SEODinosaur last edited by Aug 29, 2012, 12:46 PM Aug 29, 2012, 12:46 PM

                                    Since its wordpress you can do it in the wordpress settings back end.

                                    FLEAR 1 Reply Last reply Aug 29, 2012, 12:51 PM Reply Quote 0
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