To WWW or Not To WWW?

To WWW or Not To WWW is the question?
When you create a blog in Blogger you are given a URL/link/blog address which looks like :

http://YOURBLOGNAME.blogspot.com

Wouldn't you like a more swankier address like :

www.YOURBLOGNAME.blogspot.com

Here the root domain is blogspot.com. Both these above URLs are the same but technically they are different. Google can read your WWW and non-WWW as two different versions of your site. The disadvantage is it triggers a duplicate content filter and then chooses to index only one version. Let’s say Google indexed your non-WWW version, and all of your backlinks went primarily to your WWW version. Well those are wasted backlinks now because they aren’t being passed.

Canonicalization is the process of picking the best url when there are several choices. So what is the best choice for your blog......

SOLVE THE CANONICAL CONUNDRUM

To determine which version of domain name (http://www.domain.com or just http://domain.com) to keep and to use in the future go here. Type your blog address in the Full Url text box at the bottom of the page and click Go.

This site tests the number of pages indexed per version by Google, Yahoo and MSN ,as well as the number of links to the domains themselves. The results are returned in seconds along with recommendations for which address you should choose as the main URL for your blog.

SETTING THE PREFERRED DOMAIN

Having decided which domain to use head over to Google Sitemaps to set it. If you do not have it create an account and Paste your blog link in the Add Site text ox at the top and click OK. After the blog has been added click on the blog name to manage it. Then click on Preferred Domain under Diagnostic tab See Picture below :


Choose your preferred domain and click OK. Now you can promote your blog with your proper domain name. Try to contact all websites that are linking to the "wrong" domain name and get them to change. Use the Yahoo! link domain query for this on the results page obtained.

I use http://betabloggerfordummies.blogspot.com because most of my backlinks point to it, but if you are a new blogger you can set yours to be

www.YOURBLOGNAME.blogspot.com

from the beginning.

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