I would like to know when you create a link, which one is better or it doesn't make any difference? I've been building using http:// but have seen many sites with http://www.
It does not matter at all. As long as you are consistent. Recently, I was hired to do SEO for a website that somehow could not gain PR or climb the search. It was very easy to find out that he had a total of 8 homepages on a single site. with www and without. With index.htm attached to it and without. With default.htm attached to it and without. BE CONSISTENT!!! Your internal linking should then always be to the same URL and use this URL for backlinks as well. This way all the 'points' will go to the same place. Also, redirect any other versions to the URL of your choice. If you prefer to use without www. then make sure when people are trying to visit your domain with the www. that they are redirected to the other homepage. The last thing that you want is splitting your PR over two different homepages.
Yes, you're right! I used to use www a lot because it is quicker to type, but after encountering some problem manipulating data in Excel sheet, I switched over to http:// only so that it is easier to work with and it is habitual now!
It seems to me the average person always types "www" so that's would be the way to go. That's what I do but as mentioned above, it doesn't really matter as long as you're consistent.
As others said. Be consistent in using your site with / without www and do a 301 redirect from the other one so that your PR is not split between these domain variants.
Ditto that. Typically, I use relative linking for internal pages within the domain, leave the domain off altogether. Except maybe the copyright link in the footer, which will be a fully qualified domain url. example: ../somepage.html or /somepage.html Redirect 301 is the correct way to do this. Either via an .htaccess file or if you have access to the server configuration files, better yet. Another option, I noticed at GoDaddy, is that you have complete control over your Domain name service. You can actually set up a CNAME record for all www. references to point at your base domain name. More to the point, you do not want to split your PR over two seperate domains. Technically, domains with and without the preceding www qualify as being two seperate domains. This is why search engines do not see them as such. With Google Webmaster tools, however, you can specify which one to use. If you do not have an account for you website, best to set one up and get this taken care of. It will save a lot of headaches.
You were told wrong, or misinterpreted what you heard. What would make it easier, and this is said above, is consistency in your linking. Either use the www or don't use it, but use only one or the other. The problem in indexing comes about because they are treated as two different domains.
As a newbie - this answer is simple. Use "WWW" - newbies - like me, always type that first. And, remember, 95% of the population are NOT webmasters and have no idea to not type www. first.
I loved your post Dodger. It explains it all! It's great to use relative linking, then you would not have to worry about any w's. But even then I have seen sites that use default.htm and index.htm and more for the same page. Consistency is the key!
Yep Consistency is the key! And the only good reason to have www. in front of your name is print or TV advertising -- it is what signals the viewers brain that it is an Internet address. And forget about the http in front of it, that just confuses them. As for linking purposes however, either one is acceptable and one is not better over the other. And whether you type www with the domain into your address bar, or leave it out ... both go to the same page. It is just that SE's have trouble telling one from the other ... go figure.
Many people just type the website without www. or .com on the browser address bar then press "Ctrl + Enter", the browser then automatically adds www. and .com to what you've typed That's one more reason to use www.