On Using WWW
Perhaps you’ve noticed that some websites are listed with “www.” at the beginning while others are not. What is that all about?
Back in the Dark Ages of the internet (you know, last century?), WWW was used to specify the http:// protocol. But now, all the browsers assume that anyway, so there really isn’t much purpose left for WWW. Except that for some websites, you have to type it in. For others, you don’t.
The reason you have to type it in for some domains is that the website owner hasn’t set up their DNS to allow for entering just the domain name without the www. Why not? You’d have to ask the owner or the administrator. It makes sense to me to set it up that way to accommodate lazy typists like me. Plus, then I don’t have to stumble over saying double-u double-u double-u. (Why did they pick the only 3 syllable letter, anyway?) I also expect that one day, www will be dropped entirely.
(Note: You may not always notice that www is required because modern browsers will add it for you, if needed.)
But, just because your domain is set up to work without WWW, that doesn’t mean everyone will specify it that way. And so you’ll find links on various websites that look like this:
bwhWebMusings.com
And like this:
www.bwhWebMusings.com
They will both get you to your website, but there is an important difference. The Search Engines will treat them as two separate websites. If you could make the search engines see them as the same website, it would result in increased rankings.
How do you know if your website is set up correctly? Go to a browser and type in your domain with www into the address bar. Open a new window and type in your domain without www. Once your site loads, look at the address bar.
Do they both read the same? Then you’re all set.
Or does each read just like you typed it? Then perhaps you should contact your webmaster or administrator to correct it. If your website’s server is running Apache, it’s a few lines added to the .htaccess file. Geeks can reference this page for how to set it up.
All websites built by bwh Web Designs are set up to work without www. Furthermore, typing either www.bwhWebMusings.com or bwhWebMusings.com will resolve to bwhWebMusings.com.
