WWW Vs Non-WWW: Complex Definition Made Simple

Our posting policy here at NETPLANTER.COM is clear. It is not providing information to the you but make you questionless about the subject, so you can provide information to others yourselves. Our current topic is WWW vs Non-WWW: Complex definition made simple. What is WWW; and WWW vs Non-WWW are two different issues. We’ve a entrancing stuff on the first one. If you are not all-clear what is WWW; we recommend highly to read out that as precondition before going through the current post

♦ What Is WWW: How WWW Is Different From Internet

The present topic WWW vs Non-WWW involves how ‘www’ started to be used in URL; whether using www in site-address is mandatory or not; whether a webmaster or user will use www before domain name or not.

As a user, trend to type www at the beginning of site url is now obsolete. But as a webmaster or website builder, whether he/she uses www with domain name or not, it is essential to detect the fact why to use or why not to use WWW in the site URL. Being ignorant of it may be like beating about the bush in SEO efforts.

However, Our analytical presentation through the traditional QUESTION-ANSWER process at NETPLANTER.COM will certainly detect the mystery of WWW vs Non-WWW both for newbie web master and inquisitive readers.

About using www with site address

QUESTION: We simply know, site address is the address we type in Browser’s address bar to enter a site. But we do not type www with it. What does using www with site address actually mean or indicate?

ANSWER: Right. You don’t and needn’t type www but it does exist in most of the site addresses. Suppose, in the address bar, you type bbc.com. It is the DOMAIN NAME of a BBC site. Now copy the address and paste it in NOTEPAD. This will look like- http://www.bbc.com.
Notable, here www is present which you avoided typing.

QUESTION: Please, your intro-answer created emptiness throwing away a bunch of questions into head.
Let me ask-

• What does this symbol mean?
• Why is it used just before Domain Name?
• Why is it tagged with Domain Name though not typed intentionally in the address bar?
• What is its alternative? Is there any other tag that is used in place of www? What does that mean?
• What does the beginning symbol http:// mean here?

ANSWER: Lucid understanding of such questions as well as WWW vs Non-WWW is, to great extent, related with the idea of Domain Name. We suggest to read out the following before you proceed-

♦What Is Domain Name: How Knowledge of Domain Name Uplifts Your Site-building Efforts

Domain name is the basic part of site address or URL. (see details of URL here) The prefix www used just before domain indicates SERVER type. Here the WWW, symbol or short form of World Wide Web, means that this is a website address. And this address will follow a Web Server where files of related site are located and this Web Server is the part of the World Wide Web.

In other word, here www.bbc.com refers to www subdomain of the main domain bbc.com. Then, a common question arises: Is there content/files/media transferable through Internet beyond World Wide Web? Yes, there is. In the example above, If the bbc.com use a Mail Server to transfer email and add Mail sub-domain with the main domain, the address will look like: mail.bbc.com. There is scope to add more than one subdomains with one main domain.

But in reality, the number/amount of websites/webpage is so many that the World Wide Web seems to be ruling the whole Internet Planet. Common people are usually acquainted only with the webpage-based internet activities. SO they think that URL means website URL with www such as www.bbc.com.

As a matter of fact, a Domain linked with the Web Server or a website Domain must have www as prefix. WWW is the reserved subdomain of any Web Server. It is added with the hosting package. But a webmaster can use it with his/her domain or reject it, in other word, can change it what we’re going to focus later on.

Web transmission or webpage content transmission between web server and users’ devices occurs through HTTP which means Hypertext Transfer Protocol. BROWSER, a software is one of the parts of this protocol. Browser is essential to access a website (also has exception). So browser easily recognizes website address and by default fix www prefix before Domain Name whether a user type www in address bar or not.

In the beginning of URL, http:// is used because this type of web content is transferred by Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http). There are also other Protocol; such as, ftp (File Transfer Protocol) for transferring file, smtp (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for transferring email etc.

Hope this illustration received coverage of all of your questions.
WWW vs Non-WWW: About using www with site address

Difference between WWW and Non-WWW versions

QUESTION: Yes, it did. Suppose, a website url is- example.com. I typed www.example.com. Can I reach that site?

ANSWER: Of course, you can. Browser will recognize www.example.com and example.com as the same domain. To find a website, from Browser’s perspective, there is no difference between these two versions of URL.

QUESTION: Then what is the worth of www?

ANSWER: During the initial stage of the development of Web, www was frequently used in offline use and written form to specifically indicate that this was a website address. In consideration of browser’s side, www is always necessary to differentiate web server address from other server addresses. if you write google.com, it means www.google.com but if you want to indicate mail server of google you must write mail.google.com. Here you cannot avoid the prefix ‘mail’.

Why and why not to use WWW and Non-WWW

QUESTION: Seemingly clear. Now question, what value does www hold to the webmasters? Why should they use or not use it?

ANSWER: If we see the fact from the webmaster’s perspective, it is a delicious issue. Webmasters may take any of the versions-either www.owndomain.com or owndomain.com. No problem (Google opines). But there is problem from the viewpoint of SEO if a webmaster neglects this issue or want to use both the versions. In this case, this will create Canonical or Duplicate content issue which will pose negative effect on his/her SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or Search Engine ranking.

QUESTION: How is it possible for a webmaster to use both the versions of URL?

ANSWER: Yes, it is a timely question indeed. Suppose a webmaster has built a website with www version of url; say the url is- www.photoshopping.com. He published two posts with two different versions of url. One is- www.photoshopping.com/how-to-remove-background-from-image.html and another is photoshopping.com/how-to-use-pen-tool.html.

In this case Google will consider these two URLs belong to two different sites which have the same Tags, Title, Description etc. Then how would this site rank in GOOGLE or other Search Engines? Certainly miserably. This is Canonical issue.

Why duplicate content issue matters

QUESTION: What may be the outcome of such url misuse or Canonicalization from Google?

ANSWER: If Canonical problem arises, Search Engine Crawler may access your site from different URLs which seems to it (crawler) more than one duplicate copies of same content. As a result, it may cause a few SEO problems-

• As Search Crawler goes through so many duplicate contents, it may miss some of your unique contents to index.
• This will certainly lower down your rank in search engine
• Search Engine may pick the wrong URL as the original.
• You may be penalized as Search Engine may stop indexing some of your content or the whole website.

QUESTION: It will really matter. Then how can webmasters face this challenge or solve this issue?

ANSWER: Every webmaster, persistent to his ultimate success, should bring the issue into account and take necessary steps so that duplicate content issue may not appear hampering his/her SEO campaign. Probable solutions in this regard are-

1. Webmasters must be stick to only one version of URL. Either with www or Naked version or without www and use this url in all his linking-structure of posts and pages.
2. There is option in Google Search console setting to select one preferred version of URL. It must be utilized.
3. In case of other version, they should apply 301 redirection from his C-panel provided by hosting company. Suppose a person’s preferred domain is- owndomain.com. that he fixed in Google Search console. He will then redirect www.owndomain.com to his preferred domain owndomain.com from his C-panel.
4. If one prefers www version which he, by default, received by his Hosting provider; then one needn’t apply 301 Redirection from non-www version to www version.
5. URL Redirection can also be made by changing .htaccess file in C-panel. In other word, if one apply 301 redirection; then, .htaccess file essentially gets changed.

QUESTION: Beyond SEO factors, is there other significance of using or not using www?
ANSWER:Yes, there a few benefits in using WWW domain over Naked one. But these things are not likely to be a matter of headache for the general bloggers, website owners and marketers. it actually matters for the large websites that receive millions of page-views per day.
WWW domain benefits the webmasters the following ways-

QUESTION: What is better to accept as a webmaster— www or non-www?
ANSWER: Probably, this question is already dissolved. It is up to the webmaster which version of URL he/she likes. But who doesn’t want his/her website be a gigantic one to rule the websites planet and pick up even the minimal benefits from WWW version? So one should opt WWW version. So is the preferable option of mine.

Hope you enjoyed this post. If my efforts add something to your WWW exploration or provoke your inventive thought anew; please share this post so, your friends also can experience its juice. Please drop a comment below about the issue and the points I’ve cut off unknowingly that might have been more important for fulfillment of this article.