Google weighs in on using www. in URLs

“Should I use www. in my URLs?”

“Is there any impact to SEO if I drop the www.?”

We’ve touched on this a little bit before, actually. At Connect, we use www. and redirect the non-www. to the www.

But is one better than the other?

Nope, at least not for Google – it’s more of a personal decision for each webmaster based on their business expectations and audience.

For reference, the question was asked earlier this week on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/BLevreau/status/892884649533480960

Moz’s Marketing Scientist, Dr. Pete Myers answered the call and Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller reaffirmed his response:

yep

— John ☆.o(≧▽≦)o.☆ (@JohnMu) August 3, 2017

So, you can plump for whichever you prefer, but you should be firm and stick with one. We’re almost pre-programmed to recognise www. before the main body of a URL, and familiarity often influences the level of trust users have when clicking through via search, so you may want to factor that in when making a decision.

If you don’t make a firm choice, Google should figure it out anyway.

Do you use www., or do you prefer naked URLs?