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Whether your URL starts with www or not — does it matter for SEO, visitors, or your website? This guide explains the difference and what to choose.

You might have noticed that some websites start with www (like www.yourbusiness.com) and some don't (like yourbusiness.com). You might wonder: does it matter which one you use? And why do both work on most sites?

Quick summary

Both versions work. What matters is that your site uses one of them consistently and redirects the other to it, so the same page isn't served at two addresses. Whether you pick yourbusiness.com or www.yourbusiness.com is mostly a matter of taste.

What does `www` actually mean?

www stands for "World Wide Web." In the early days of the internet, it was used to distinguish web servers from other servers on the same domain (like ftp.yourbusiness.com for file transfers or mail.yourbusiness.com for email). Today, almost everything uses the web, so www is largely a historical convention.

Technically, www is a subdomain of your domain. That means www.yourbusiness.com is a subdomain, and yourbusiness.com (without the prefix) is called the "bare domain," "root domain," or "apex domain."

Does it affect SEO?

Not by itself. To Google, www.yourbusiness.com and yourbusiness.com are simply two different addresses for the same site — Google's own documentation calls them "variants" of each other.

What does matter is consistency. If the same page is reachable at both addresses, that's duplicate content — one page at more than one URL. Google says duplicate content isn't a violation of its spam policies, but it can confuse visitors, it can waste the crawling Google spends on your site, and it makes your search performance harder to track. Google will pick one address to show in results, and if you don't tell it which, it decides for you.

The fix is simple: pick one version and redirect the other to it permanently (using a 301 redirect). The version you keep is your canonical URL.

Which should you choose?

Either works well. A bare domain is shorter to write and say, which is why many newer sites use one. But www is the older convention and works exactly as well, so if you already have an established site using it, there's no reason to change.

Using non-www (yourbusiness.com)

Shorter, cleaner URL
Nothing extra for customers to type or say
One catch: a bare domain can't always be pointed with a CNAME record. Some DNS providers need an A record instead, or a feature such as Cloudflare's CNAME flattening

Using www (www.yourbusiness.com)

The older convention, and still completely normal
Being a subdomain, it can be pointed with an ordinary CNAME record, with no special DNS feature needed
Tidier cookies: a cookie set on a bare domain can be sent to every subdomain, while a cookie set on www can be kept to www alone

Setting up redirects

Whichever version you choose as your canonical URL, make sure the other version redirects to it. For example:

If your canonical is yourbusiness.com, set up a redirect so www.yourbusiness.com → yourbusiness.com
If your canonical is www.yourbusiness.com, set up a redirect so yourbusiness.com → www.yourbusiness.com

This redirect is usually handled in your hosting control panel or by your web server configuration — we take care of this when building or migrating your site.

How DNS handles www

Because www is a subdomain, it needs its own DNS record. That's commonly a CNAME record:

Name	Type	Value
`www`	CNAME	`yourbusiness.com`

A CNAME can point at your root domain, as above, or at a hostname your web host gives you. An A record holding the same IP address as your root domain does the job too. Follow whichever your host's instructions ask for.

Either way, both addresses end up resolving to the same place. The redirect then determines which version is the "official" one.

Common questions

I typed both versions and they work — so it's already set up correctly?

It's set up, but check that one redirects to the other rather than both showing the same content independently. You can verify by watching the address bar — if you type yourbusiness.com and the URL changes to www.yourbusiness.com (or vice versa), the redirect is working correctly.

My site shows as 'www' but I prefer without. Can I change it?

Yes, but it involves updating your hosting settings and potentially your SSL certificate. Google counts a change of hostname like this as a site move, so expect your rankings to move around while it recrawls and reindexes your pages. Google's own guidance is that this can take a few weeks or more for a medium-sized site. The good news: Google says a permanent (301) redirect doesn't cost you the credit for links pointing at the old address. Let us know and we can manage the change properly.

Do I need both versions in my SSL certificate?

Yes. Your SSL certificate should cover both yourbusiness.com and www.yourbusiness.com, because a visitor may type either one. Hosting providers and CDNs commonly cover both, but it's worth confirming rather than assuming. If visitors get a browser warning that the site isn't secure on one version, the certificate probably doesn't cover that version.

What does 'canonical URL' mean?

Your canonical URL is the "official" version of your web address — the one you want search engines and visitors to use. You point search engines at it with your site settings and by redirecting all other versions to it. Google then chooses which version it shows, and its documentation describes your preference as a hint rather than a rule. That's another reason to make the redirect unambiguous.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.

www vs non-www