Question

I’m setting up another website and still run into this issue. Once and for all, I would like to know what are the pros and cons of each method. No external resource seems to provide a decent answer, so I hoped fellow coders can help me. I don’t want to know HOW to do it, it is fairly easy to find out, I just want to know which one (wwww. to null or null to www.) would be better for my site.

Answer 1

Redirect www.domain.com to domain.com.

Advertising the www. part of a domain is now rather antiquated, and besides, without the http://www., it’s shorter. When we post a domain, the general public assumes that we mean the web service unless we specify otherwise.

If there’s a question as to whether it’s a domain (for less common Top Level Domains like .cc), I’d rather include http:// than www..

The main reason not to include the www. is because it’s shorter (ie. the www. is not necessary).

Put yourself in the reader’s shoes, with their short attention spans. Since the www. does not differentiate your website, you want the reader to see and recognize the differentiating part of your domain immediately. The best way to do this is to put the unique part first (without the www.). Plus, social networking and the mobile space like shorter links.

To summarize, the trend is to no longer use http://www., but to redirect for the people who are in the habit of typing www..