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    4. Having www. and non www. links indexed

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    Having www. and non www. links indexed

    Technical SEO
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    • BruLee
      BruLee last edited by

      Hey guys,

      As the title states, the two versions of the website are indexed in Google. How should I proceed? Please also note that the links on the website are without the www.

      How should I proceed knowing that the client prefers to have the www. version indexed.

      Here are the steps that I have in mind right now:

      I set the preferred domain on GWMT as the one with www.

      I 301 redirect any non www. URL to the www. version.

      What are your thoughts? Should I 301 redirect the URL's? or is setting the preference on GWMT enough?

      Thanks.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • AdamThompson
        AdamThompson @BruLee last edited by

        You should change the links on your website to link to the www version.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • BruLee
          BruLee @BruLee last edited by

          But should I change the URLs in the website? If the product URLs are without the www., is the 301 redirect enough or should I change them to www. versions?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • AdamThompson
            AdamThompson @BruLee last edited by

            It's unlikely that updating your site to 301 redirect non-www URLs to www URLs would negatively impact your site. Google actually recommends that you do this: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=93633

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • BruLee
              BruLee @AdamThompson last edited by

              Wouldn't this hurt me on the Search Engines? To update all of the website URLs?

              AdamThompson BruLee 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • AdamThompson
                AdamThompson last edited by

                Your plan of attack is correct! 301 the URLs and inform GWT. Of course, update any links on your site, too.

                BruLee 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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