advantage of using the www version of a domain?

[sgpratley]

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Just had some nob SEO salesman try to tell one of my clients that they should be using the www version of the site because, you've guessed it , "it's better for SEO"

Now I know that historically everyone used the www so a lot of big sites are like it but I'd have thought that as long as you have your redirects set up for type-in traffic it would be a worse option. Not for SEO but the following:

• More chance of twitter shortening URL's
• Harder to say
• Also seems from looking at analytics & keyword databases that most (about 3/4) navigational searches use the non-www version

Anyone think or know different?

[rob.co.uk]

In one larger pure type-in domain I have roughly 1/5 do http://domain with the www. being the rest.

Ideally map one to the other, nothing more annoying when you see big sites without a 'catchall' a record set.

[sgpratley]

Yep, an .htaccess is in place to redirect www type-ins to the non www.

The argument that this guy was trying to put out was that the www version was 'better' in some way.I know that ebay, amazon and others use it, but I'm sure that's just historical, like the days when the BBC would actually say 'http://' when giving out website names.

[Lawcom]

don't think you really need to use the www. anymore, when there is an extension people get that it's a web address..

and you have to think outside of just weblinks .. if you have anything in print having www. is just a distraction.. when people see : yourname.com that's enough ...

[sgpratley]

That's what I thought, I think their argument went along the lines of "amazon , ebay etc etc use the www, so not using it must be bad".

Like saying fish have no legs, so anything with lags can't swim, or something like that.


Seriously, how does anyone work their way through the maze of nonsense that some SEO's insist on spewing out?

[Lawcom]

lol yip ! it is a bit like the old remedy sellers, everyone's got the answer ... more selling you on the pitch than the reality..

amason, ebay etc .. have been using the www from the beginning, so all of their backlinks started with that and so they maintain it, for them to change would be a big problem.

but if you are still at an early stage ( year or 2 even) you can still change over .. just go with what looks better for you and stick with it..