301 re-direct needed for http:// vs. www ?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by coopersPick, Jul 22, 2010.

  1. #1
    My website goes to the same page for http://www. and http:// is that bad in seo duplicate land? My google webmaster settings has it set at:
    Preferred domain

    Don't set a preferred domain

    and doesnt say that i have any duplicate title tags. Should I re-direct this or what?

    Also can somebody here help me create a site map or is that un-neccessary as well?
     
    coopersPick, Jul 22, 2010 IP
  2. mcfox

    mcfox Wind Maker

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    #2
    Huh? It goes what where and does ? Huh?

    How many pages do you have? This site does a freebie online one for you:
    http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/
     
    mcfox, Jul 22, 2010 IP
  3. neep3r

    neep3r Greenhorn

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    #3
    I always 301 http://domain.com to the sub-domain http://www.domain.com and set Google's Webmaster tools accordingly. SE's are getting smarter these days so it may not as big of an deal as it was but I still recommend picking either http:// or http://www. and 301 the other. That's usually the first thing I do after purchasing a domain.

    You'll notice on backlink reports that one will have more or less than the other and that's obviously due to how people link to you. Pointing one to the other consolidates all the inbound links and will likely improve your rankings.
     
    neep3r, Jul 22, 2010 IP
  4. neep3r

    neep3r Greenhorn

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    #4
    I agree with mcfox on http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/, it's a great free sitemap generator. I paid for the upgrade and put it in the root of my sites which saves me a lot of time on my non WP & drupal sites.
     
    neep3r, Jul 22, 2010 IP
  5. AirForce1

    AirForce1 Peon

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    #5
    Hi,

    In my own experiences, 301 redirecting between domain name with or without www would be necessary for SEO purpose. Also, http://gsitecrawler.com/ would be another nice choice for sitemap purpose.

    all the best,
     
    AirForce1, Jul 22, 2010 IP
  6. Brad Callen

    Brad Callen Peon

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    #6
    Yeah buddy! Do it!!

    You'll notice when you set up Google Analytics or Webmaster tools you would have to insert the "code snippet" to each version, that is because Google sees these at totally different sites. You build links to both, or if people are building links to both, you are hurting yourself as even a 301-redirect wouldn't pass all the PR you built up. So, I advise you to do it and do it early in the life of the site to ensure people know which version to link to!

    If you are using WordPress you can download plugins that will generate sitemaps for you. Otherwise just go with what the fine chaps have suggested above.
     
    Brad Callen, Jul 22, 2010 IP
  7. haritash

    haritash Guest

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    #7
    haritash, Jul 22, 2010 IP
  8. coopersPick

    coopersPick Active Member

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    #8
    hmmm thank you for all of the advice I will have the programmer fix the error and get a sitemap made any other suggestions for the site?
     
    coopersPick, Aug 1, 2010 IP
  9. mubashirnisar

    mubashirnisar Banned

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    #9
    that is fine,and it does not effect your seo ranking
     
    mubashirnisar, Aug 1, 2010 IP
  10. willson.andrew123

    willson.andrew123 Greenhorn

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    #10
    For Sitemap: Gsitecrawler is a desktop application, you can download it and install on your PC. xml-sitemaps.com is an online application. well both require internet connection and both are free. xml-sitemaps.com generate free for 500 URLs, whereas with Gsitecrawler you can generate as much as possible.

    Google has a tendency of showing most of the new sites without www. This is my experience and I have to setup my preferred domain through Google Webmaster tools and use a 301 redirect too.
     
    willson.andrew123, Aug 1, 2010 IP