What's the Difference Between www.yourdomain.com and yourdomain.com ?

When you visit a website, you might notice it loads with or without a www prefix — for example, www.example.com vs example.com. While they often lead to the same page, they’re technically not the same thing. Let’s break down the difference and why it matters.

1. Technically, They Are Two Different Domains

• www.yourdomain.com is a subdomain of yourdomain.com.
• yourdomain.com is the apex (or root) domain.

In DNS (Domain Name System) terms, these are two separate records. A server must be configured to respond to both.

2. SEO Implications

Search engines treat www and non-www as different domains unless you specify one as canonical.

• You should pick one version as your preferred domain.
• Use a 301 redirect to forward all traffic from one version to the other.
• Set your preferred domain in tools like Google Search Console to avoid duplicate content issues.

3. Technical Differences

DNS Configuration

• www.yourdomain.com can point to a CNAME record.
• yourdomain.com (the apex domain) cannot — it must point to an A record.
• This can affect how you set up CDNs, load balancers, or cloud hosting platforms.

Cookie Scope

• Cookies set on yourdomain.com are available to all subdomains.
• Cookies set on www.yourdomain.com are restricted to that subdomain.

4. Branding and User Perception

• www is traditional and often feels more “complete” to users.
• Non-www (also called “naked domain”) is shorter and cleaner.
• There's no SEO preference between the two — consistency is what matters most.

Best Practice

• Choose either www or non-www as your primary domain.
• Set up a 301 redirect from the secondary to the primary.
• Use canonical tags, update internal links, and configure DNS and SSL for both versions.

Conclusion

The difference between www.yourdomain.com and yourdomain.com is small in appearance but significant in technical setup and SEO. Make a clear choice, configure redirects properly, and keep your domain structure consistent for a better user experience and search engine optimization.

Keep Coding 🔥