site:mydomain.com versus site:www.mydomain.com

Discussion in 'Google' started by bd007, Jan 10, 2009.

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  1. #1
    Hi everyone,

    Long time viewer, first time poster.

    I was wondering in google search engine if the results from site:mydomain.com versus site:www.mydomain.com should be the same? Here is the results I am getting:
    site:mydomain.com = 52
    site:www.mydomain.com = 1

    I just recently vanished from google results for a keyword I was targeting, went from top of page 2 to nothing. Another keyword I dropped from page 1 to 3. Webmaster tools does not show any errors. Any suggestions or tips would be helpful.

    Thanks
    Dave
     
    bd007, Jan 10, 2009 IP
  2. rainborick

    rainborick Well-Known Member

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    #2
    The issue you've spotted is called 'canonicalization'. Google initially considers the 'www.' version of your domain name to be different than the non-www version. This can result in duplicate content issues and a splitting of PageRank which can impair your rankings. Google will eventually discover the duplication and will merge (ie. 'canonicalize') the two versions of your domain name, but there are two catches if you don't take steps to indicate which version of your domain name you prefer. Catch #1: Google will pick it for you. Catch #2: 'eventually' can feel like a very long time if it's your site.

    So, as you can see, it's best to let the world know which is your preferred version of your domain name. The first step is to actually pick a preferred domain name and stick to it in all of the internal links in your site and all of the links you request from other sites. The second step is to set up server code 301 redirects for all requests using the "bad" version pointing back to the "good" version. The third step is to select a Preferred Domain Name in the Google Webmaster Tools console. Do this and the situation will clear up in a very short time. Good luck!
     
    rainborick, Jan 10, 2009 IP
  3. nhc1987

    nhc1987 Notable Member

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    #3
    nhc1987, Jan 10, 2009 IP
  4. yonghoshin

    yonghoshin Peon

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    #4
    You should choose one type over the other. I prefer the non-www version because I don't say "www" when telling other people about my site.

    Which is more natural to say:

    "Hey! Check out double-yoo, double-yoo, double-yoo, mywebsite dot com!"

    "Hey! Check out mywebsite dot com!"
     
    yonghoshin, Jan 10, 2009 IP
  5. seo_-

    seo_- Banned

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    #5
    its easy to remember without www

    and backlinks with and with out WWW , its no problem. google know its belong to u
     
    seo_-, Jan 10, 2009 IP
  6. bd007

    bd007 Peon

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    #6
    Thank you very much for the quick responses. It looks like most of my internal links are non-www so I will go that route. I have changed my internal links to non-www and will use this from now on for on backlinks.

    I hope this is the cause of my website vanishing from google.

    Thanks again everyone!!

    Dave
     
    bd007, Jan 10, 2009 IP