A long time has passed since the last SEO post, so I’ve decided to write about it and solve a common query that some of you may have, especially if you’re just starting.

Whether if you’re just starting or you’ve been blogging for a long time, it’s VERY important to have this clear, as it may get you in troubles if you don’t get these facts. So…

With or without WWW

As you are aware, you can write an url using www. site dot com http:// site dot com http:// www. site dot com I’ve seen some guys, that have called themselves as SEO Gurus, that have stated it’s better to have http:// www site dot com. I must say, with all due respect, that this just ridiculous.

Apart from not being proven, the protocol used (with or without http or www) has no effects on SEO, thus, no SERP effects. For those who are starting to learn SEO and don’t know what SERP means, it just means Search Engine Ranking Position.

Some say that using https, which is a secure protocol, will have negative effects on SERPs, but it’s wrong, it’s just not proven.

Unless it’s proven, it’s false.

The problem comes when someone has both www and not www in use.

Why is this a problem?

1) Because Google will index both sites. With and without www. Giving different SERP to a unique site, so it will be much more difficult to rank higher on search engines.

2) Because backlinks will go to both sites…

3) So you’ll lose Pagerank, as backlinks will be shared between both www and non www sites. That said, how to check if you’re using both www and non www? Just by typing your website url onto your browser. First www, then without it. If using without www, the url doesn’t automaticly change to www, then you’re using both www and non www versions.

How to fix it?

By simply using a 301 redirect using your preferred domain, www or not www, but just a single one.

.com or .net?

Apart from that, it’s also common to say that .com or .net are better than other extensions. This is also a false one. The only differences between a .com a .net or a .org, just to say some, are the difficulty to get them as extension for your domain name.

Nevertheless, there’s a little trick you can use with extensions. Let’s say your site address is www. your site dot com. And let’s say a visitor accidentally write www. your site dot net. I obviously won’t reach your site and, if it’s a new visitor, you already lost a reader.

What can you do? Just like the one above. Buy the .net (or .net, .org, .co.uk…) and make a 301 redirect.

Thanks for reading.