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        4. Having www. and non www. links indexed

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        Having www. and non www. links indexed

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        • BruLee
          BruLee last edited by

          Hey guys,

          As the title states, the two versions of the website are indexed in Google. How should I proceed? Please also note that the links on the website are without the www.

          How should I proceed knowing that the client prefers to have the www. version indexed.

          Here are the steps that I have in mind right now:

          I set the preferred domain on GWMT as the one with www.

          I 301 redirect any non www. URL to the www. version.

          What are your thoughts? Should I 301 redirect the URL's? or is setting the preference on GWMT enough?

          Thanks.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • AdamThompson
            AdamThompson @BruLee last edited by

            You should change the links on your website to link to the www version.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • BruLee
              BruLee @BruLee last edited by

              But should I change the URLs in the website? If the product URLs are without the www., is the 301 redirect enough or should I change them to www. versions?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • AdamThompson
                AdamThompson @BruLee last edited by

                It's unlikely that updating your site to 301 redirect non-www URLs to www URLs would negatively impact your site. Google actually recommends that you do this: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=93633

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • BruLee
                  BruLee @AdamThompson last edited by

                  Wouldn't this hurt me on the Search Engines? To update all of the website URLs?

                  AdamThompson BruLee 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • AdamThompson
                    AdamThompson last edited by

                    Your plan of attack is correct! 301 the URLs and inform GWT. Of course, update any links on your site, too.

                    BruLee 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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