I am wanting to use the 301 redirects just so that all my domain name variations (eg. www vs non www) are linked. 1) Is there any reason to go in one direction vs the other? For example, I had heard that if the www has a more backlinks recognized by SEs, then you should point the non www ---> www. Or do the opposite if the the non www has all the backlinks. 2) Is using cpanel just as good and using the htaccess file? HostGator says "Trying to redirect domain.com to www.domain.com will give you a Continuous Loop Error. To add the www, you need to use Apache Mod Rewrite, not a 301 redirect." This is why I am wondering if it matters which direction you point. thanks for thoughts.
whether to redirect to www or non-www depends on you. either one is fine but whichever you use, you stick with one uniform URL. cpanel has nothing to do with htaccess as it is just a control panel. your server OS is what you should look at. if your site is running on a unix/linux box, then you can use htaccess file for 301 redirect without any issue. if you setup the htaccess file properly, you will not get into continuous loop.
HI - thanks for the reply. What I am really trying to find out is this (and maybe no one knows for sure) - If I redirect the URL that has all the backlinks to the other one, will I lose the benefit of those backlinks? Hostgator's cpanel allows you to do a redirct simply by entering the URL you wish to redirect TO and clicking a button - easy. As a non-coder I'd like to avoid messing with the htaccess file and risk messing up my client's site, so that is my preferred route. But it won't work going TO the www URL. I'd rather not lose the backlinks he does have so I'm hoping a redirect does not make any difference when it comes to backlinks. thanks