In the early days of the internet, the www prefix was necessary for web pages, but people now rarely use it when referring to sites. Is there a search engine optimization advantage when choosing a www vs. non-www website?
Learn the differences between the two and which one you need for optimal online visibility.
WWW vs. Non-WWW: What Are the Technical Differences?
The www prefix serves as a subdomain for a website. As a result, a search engine sees a page with “www.” as technically different from a non-www page with the same root (or “second-level”) domain while crawling your site.
For example, www.bkacontent.com is not the same as bkacontent.com, at least according to Google. Think of the www as any other subdomain prefix. It operates in the same way that “news.example.com” is different from “shop.example.com” or “example.com.”
Non-www domains are sometimes called “naked” domains because they lack that traditional prefix. They gained popularity as web users began searching for sites without using www.
What Are the Pros and Cons of WWW and Non-WWW Domains?
Take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of www vs. non-www sites.
WWW Domains
A www site is technically better for pages that have high loads of traffic, especially millions of views. The main reason is that this subdomain makes it easier to set up a content delivery network.
CDNs can improve site performance, speed, and security. They also give you more control over any additional subdomains. In particular, setting and controlling cookies is easier with CDNs.
Domains with www do use slightly more bandwidth, but not enough to make a real difference. Also, Google generally prefers shorter and simpler URLs, and adding the prefix does lengthen your URL.
Non-WWW Domains
From a branding and user experience perspective, non-www sites are better. It’s become somewhat comical or old-fashioned to refer to a site with the www in everyday conversation.
However, without a www site, you initially lose many of the technical advantages it offers. While these might not matter for a small site with minimal traffic, a domain with plans for lots of traffic might end up with a poorer user experience.
You can use workarounds to regain many of those technical benefits. For example, you can host static content on a separate domain to manage cookies, and CDNs now offer more options that can work with non-www sites. Still, these extra steps can become cumbersome, particularly for high-traffic domains with a lot of content to manage.
