undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers

      Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
  4. Disavow Tool - WWW or Not?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Disavow Tool - WWW or Not?

Intermediate & Advanced SEO
6
10
4.0k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • Carlos-R
    Carlos-R last edited by Apr 9, 2013, 11:12 AM

    Hi All,

    Just a quick question ... A shady domain linking to my website is indexed in Google for both example.com and www.example.com. If  I wan't to disavow the entire domain, do I need to submit both:

    domain:www.example.com

    domain:example.com

    or just:

    domain:example.com

    Cheers!

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • JaredMumford
      JaredMumford last edited by Aug 27, 2013, 4:15 PM Aug 27, 2013, 4:15 PM

      To clear up any uncertainty, I think there are two questions being asked:

      1. Link to be disavowed: Do I disavow both the www and non-www versions of a bad link?
      2. Site you own: Which site in webmaster tools do I upload the disavow list to - www or non-www?

      The link to be disavowed is an easy answer because in most cases if you want a link disavowed, you probably don't want a link from that domain (because its suspect, de-indexed, etc.).  Therefore you can simply blanket it with domain:badwebsite.com. This will be sure to get any link from this site to yours, regardless of the subdomain (i.e. www.badwebsite.com, ww2.badwebsite.com, forum.badwebsite.com, etc.)

      Answer #2 isn't quite as easy. The safest (and arguably proper) way is to link mine both the www and non-www versions of your website and treat each as a separate site (as Google does). Even if you are using 301 redirects or canonicals I still recommend this method. In many cases, one version will have a much smaller backlink volume. In any case, pick out the bad links and try to get them removed by emailing the website. Once the attempt has been made, Compile the remaining backlinks (still in separate lists for www and non-www), and upload them to their respective disavow tool areas.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • topic:timeago_earlier,3 months
      • MarieHaynes
        MarieHaynes @webestate last edited by May 31, 2013, 9:25 PM May 31, 2013, 9:25 PM

        The correct syntax, whether there is a www or not is to use domain:example.com.  this will disavow both the www and the non www.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • webestate
          webestate last edited by May 31, 2013, 9:21 PM May 31, 2013, 9:21 PM

          Just to be clear can someone answer this for me?

          I am about to disavow some links and when I get to webmaster tools I have both the www.site.com and site.com and it's asking me to select one.  Which one do I pick to disavow the links?........www or non-www?

          MarieHaynes 1 Reply Last reply May 31, 2013, 9:25 PM Reply Quote 0
          • topic:timeago_earlier,2 months
          • MarieHaynes
            MarieHaynes last edited by Apr 9, 2013, 12:50 PM Apr 9, 2013, 12:47 PM

            If you use:

            domain:example.com

            then this will disavow www.example.com, example.com and all pages coming from this domain.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • Bryan_Loconto
              Bryan_Loconto @Carlos-R last edited by Apr 9, 2013, 12:17 PM Apr 9, 2013, 12:17 PM

              Based on the situation, I would only disavow the ones that are indexed and be sure to keep track of your work. The Read More link I posted above explains everything you need to know. You should also check both versions (www and non) of the back links to your site.

              another quote from that page:

              'Note: When looking at the links to your site in Webmaster Tools, you may want to verify both the www and the non-vww version of your domain in your Webmaster Tools account. To Google, these are entirely different sites. Take a look at the data for both sites.'

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Carlos-R
                Carlos-R @Bryan_Loconto last edited by Apr 9, 2013, 11:58 AM Apr 9, 2013, 11:58 AM

                Hi Sean  - Thanks for your reply. That means we'd have to check for all domains we want to  disavow whether both versions are indexed or not. Or disavow both versions just to be be on the safe side...

                Bryan_Loconto 1 Reply Last reply Apr 9, 2013, 12:17 PM Reply Quote 0
                • Carlos-R
                  Carlos-R @Sean_Dawes last edited by Apr 9, 2013, 11:51 AM Apr 9, 2013, 11:51 AM

                  Hi Sean  - Thanks for your reply. I just edited my question, maybe it wasn't very easy to understand. I was just wondering if to disavow a domain that has both WWW and not-WWW versions indexed in Google, I had to disavow both:

                  domain:www.example.com

                  domain:example.com

                  or just:

                  domain:example.com

                  I understand the risks of using the disavow tool and asking for the links to be removed is no longer an option.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Sean_Dawes
                    Sean_Dawes last edited by Apr 9, 2013, 11:38 AM Apr 9, 2013, 11:38 AM

                    No do not do this.

                    Which version do you want to keep? You will need to look at the data to determine which version is the most linked to. Than just redirect www to non www or vice versa.  You should also setup both non www and www versions of Google webmaster tools.

                    Also in the version you want to keep, go to your google webmaster tools>configuration>settings and than define which version yo want.

                    Disvow tool should be considered the last resource for removing links to your site that are shady.

                    Carlos-R 1 Reply Last reply Apr 9, 2013, 11:51 AM Reply Quote 0
                    • Bryan_Loconto
                      Bryan_Loconto last edited by Apr 9, 2013, 11:42 AM Apr 9, 2013, 11:35 AM

                      Hi Carlos,

                      Remove both Google looks at them as two separate sites. However, I would not recommend using Google disavow tool unless the linking page is not accessible, or the webmaster of the linking site will not take it down after a couple attempts.

                      "This is an advanced feature and should only be used with caution. If used incorrectly, this feature can potentially harm your site’s performance in Google’s search results. We recommend that you disavow backlinks only if you believe you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links pointing to your site, and if you are confident that the links are causing issues for you. In most cases, Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance, so most normal or typical sites will not need to use this tool." Read More

                      This should help.

                      Carlos-R 1 Reply Last reply Apr 9, 2013, 11:58 AM Reply Quote -1
                      • 1 / 1
                      1 out of 10
                      • First post
                        1/10
                        Last post

                      Got a burning SEO question?

                      Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                      Start my free trial


                      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.

                      • See all categories

                      Related Questions

                      • SeoBlogs61

                        Moving site from www to non www and also hosting to vps what will be the effect?

                        shared hosting to vps www to non www

                        Hi SEO gurus,
                        I am trying to move my site from shared hosting to VPS hosting and also moving from www to non www version.
                        What is the best possible way to avoid any issue and without losing the backlinks.
                        Is it good or bad to do? URL: https://buylikesservices.com/

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Dec 6, 2022, 2:36 AM | SeoBlogs61
                        0
                      • netcomsia

                        block primary . xxx domain with disavow tool

                        search results spam spam score disavow seo audit

                        Hi friends I discovered spam url attack on top sites with good google positions for specific keyword. Can I block primary domain like .xxx with disavow tool? There is hundreds of different domains but primary domain is always the same. for example like this domain:xxx? Thanks

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Nov 1, 2021, 7:25 PM | netcomsia
                        0
                      • Vuly

                        Negative SEO & How long does it take for Google to disavow

                        Following on from a previous problem of 2 of our main pages completely dropping from index, we have discovered that 150+ spam, porn domains have been directed at our pages (sometime in the last 3-4 months, don't have an exact date). Does anyone have exerpeince on how long it may take Google to take noticed of a new disavow list? Any estimates would be very helpful in determining our next course of action.

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 17, 2024, 4:08 PM | Vuly
                        1
                      • kayl87

                        Favourite tool for unlinked brand mentions?

                        Hey Guys, There seems to be multiple tools on the market for unlinked brand mentions for link building e.g. Ahrefs, Moz, etc. Which one is your favourite? Cheers.

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 22, 2018, 4:12 AM | kayl87
                        0
                      • jameswesleyhunt

                        Switching site from non-www to www

                        Howdy folks, I've got a website that is roughly 3 months old. I created it as a naked URL as I often prefer the look but I've noticed that a lot of my competition has www and also some of my clients seem to prefer it as well. I feel like switching it to www will be of long-term benefit for my site. The problem is that I currently have several pages with first page rankings and a backlinks. I am wondering what the negative effects of switching it to www would be, and how I can minimize any issues. I am guessing I should do a redirect, and I have access to some of the backlinks so I can change those as well, but is there anything else? Thoughts? I appreciate the feedback!

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 30, 2015, 12:12 PM | jameswesleyhunt
                        1
                      • rahul11

                        How to do geo targeting for domain and sub directories in Webmaster tool?

                        Hello All, How can i do geo targeting in multiple countries on my ** root domain and sub **directories in Webmaster tool. My domain is "abc.com" and i want to target three countries UAE , Kuwait, Saudi arabia. So, Can i assign geo targeting in Webmaster tool ,  Root domain for UAE country and make other two sub directories for Kuwait and saudi ? abc.com - UAE (geo targeting) abc.com/kw - Kuwait (geo targeting) abc.com/sa - Saudi  (geo targeting) Or Root doamain should be not assign for any country and Make three sub directories for UAE, Kuwait , and saudi and targeting them there geo locations. abc.com - Unlisted (geo targeting) abc.com/uae/ - UAE (geo targeting) abc.com/kw/ - Kuwait (geo targeting) abc.com/sa/ - Saudi  (geo targeting)

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 24, 2013, 9:09 PM | rahul11
                        0
                      • PedroM

                        Tool to check XML sitemap

                        Hello, Can anyone help me finding a tool to have closer look of the XML sitemap? Tks in advance! PP

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Aug 9, 2012, 6:03 PM | PedroM
                        0
                      • Tit

                        Old deleted sitemap still shown in webmaster tools

                        Hello I have redisgned a website inl new url structure in cms. Old sitemap was not set to 404 but changed with new sitemap files,also new sitemap was named different to old one.All redirections done properly Still 3 month after google still shows me duplicate titile and metas by comparing old and new urls I am lost in what to do now to eliminate the shown error. How can google show urls that are not shown in sitemap any more? Looking forward to any help Michelles

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | May 21, 2012, 6:02 AM | Tit
                        0

                      Get started with Moz Pro!

                      Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                      Start my free trial
                      Products
                      • Moz Pro
                      • Moz Local
                      • Moz API
                      • Moz Data
                      • STAT
                      • Product Updates
                      Moz Solutions
                      • SMB Solutions
                      • Agency Solutions
                      • Enterprise Solutions
                      Free SEO Tools
                      • Domain Authority Checker
                      • Link Explorer
                      • Keyword Explorer
                      • Competitive Research
                      • Brand Authority Checker
                      • Local Citation Checker
                      • MozBar Extension
                      • MozCast
                      Resources
                      • Blog
                      • SEO Learning Center
                      • Help Hub
                      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                      • How-to Guides
                      • Moz Academy
                      • API Docs
                      About Moz
                      • About
                      • Team
                      • Careers
                      • Contact
                      Why Moz
                      • Case Studies
                      • Testimonials
                      Get Involved
                      • Become an Affiliate
                      • MozCon
                      • Webinars
                      • Practical Marketer Series
                      • MozPod
                      Connect with us

                      Contact the Help team

                      Join our newsletter
                      Moz logo
                      © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                      • Accessibility
                      • Terms of Use
                      • Privacy

                      Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.