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I have an SEO guy that is confusing me. He mentioned that in Google Webmaster Tools I should verify the www version of a site along with the non www (the non www is already verified). So I informed him there's no need because I use .htaccess to 301 redirect all www urls to the non-www url for canonical reasons (like Matt Cutts recommends). He tells me that I still should verify both versions.

I see verifying as me telling Google I want them to index things on a certain domain/subdomain...and the whole point of the canonical is that I DON'T want them indexing www subdomain urls! Not to mention, if every request to the www subdomain is redirected, is it even possible to verify it?

Should I try to do this or should I not verify the www?

Lance Roberts
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Jimbo Jonny
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3 Answers3

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Your SEO guy is not an 'SEO moron". You can verify both www prefix and 'non www' prefix in Google Web master tools no problem and then select which one is the preferred domain, www, or non www. You can not select a preferred domain in GWT without verifying both prefixes

Google explains this here:

http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=44231
moobot
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  • Why do I need to select which domain is preferred if only one of them exists? The www version doesn't exist...it's just a bunch of redirects that index as the final URL (non-www) anyway. That link describes google's solution to having 2 different duplicate sites and needing to choose 1 of them. It's a solution to a problem I don't have. – Jimbo Jonny Aug 03 '14 at 16:52
  • 301 redirects don't carry over 100 % of the link 'juice', so if people are building links to your 'non-www' domain you could be losing some of the juice. If you verify them both in Webmaster tools you will get all of the 'juice'. More info here:https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/44231?hl=en Also if the redirect is ever removed but you aren't aware, you could have duplicate page issue. – moobot Aug 03 '14 at 23:28
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That "SEO guy" is an "SEO moron". If your site can be pulled up with the www and without it you are technically serving up duplicate content and is exactly what Google doesn't want. You are much smarter then that "SEO guy". You're doing it the right way. Don't change a thing.

John Conde
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  • That's kinda my thought. To be fair, he isn't asking me to remove the redirects, just verify the www and let it sit there unused and empty in the webmaster tools, apparently in case some sort of technical error makes Google index a www url anyway, then we'd know about the error and could take action. But still, my thinking is that registering the www at all seems like it could cause confusion for google as to what it's supposed to be indexing, and a good ol' .htaccess ban of anything www is way better. – Jimbo Jonny Jul 03 '12 at 00:02
  • No, the SEO is guy correct. With and without www are treated as different sites, just like any sub-domain on a domain. www is just a sub-domain, just like site2.mydomain.com and site3.mydomain.com. – Laurence Cope Mar 21 '14 at 12:30
  • @LaurenceCope - except there ISN'T 2 subdomains to be treated as 2 different sites that need clarifying as to which one's the one to be indexed. There is no www...any attempt to access a www version will just result in a permanent redirect...which as you point out, isn't indexed at all. It's like you're asking me to make a duplicate subdomain just so that I can verify its existence then tell google that I own it and don't want them to index it. They aren't gonna index it anyway...it doesn't exist as content, it's just a redirect. – Jimbo Jonny Aug 03 '14 at 16:45
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You need to verify both to prove you are the owner of both, because technically with and without www are in fact different websites. www is just a sub-domain, and can point to a different site if need be.

So you must prove to Google you manage both. Then because Google knows you manage both, and have the authority to specify what to do with both domains, you then tell Google the site is to use www (or not, whichever you want), and you keep the redirects.

Google will not index a domain that 301 redirects to another domain.

I do agree that its not nice to have both www and non-www listed in webmaster separately though. But you could in theory have loads and loads of different sites as sub-domains, so they must be treated as different sites by Google.

Laurence Cope
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  • I don't think you got the point. The point was that for SEO purposes you DON'T WANT google to index both. The 301 was specifically so that google didn't index the www, and instead only indexed the non-www. You want there to only be 1 that shows up for google and/or your visitors so that you're not serving 2 different sites and not creating duplicate content or splitting link juice. – Jimbo Jonny Jul 02 '14 at 04:10
  • Yes I got the point. Verifying in webmaster is not related to indexing it. You are not telling google to index it just because you have it in webmaster. In fact, like moobot says, in webmaster you can specify the preferred domain with or without www, but you have to prove you own both first by verifying them. See https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/44231?hl=en. So first verify them both, then specify the preferred URL for the one you want indexed, keep your 301 redirect. – Laurence Cope Jul 12 '14 at 09:39
  • Still not seeing the point. Sure, if both the www and non-www exist, can be accessed and have duplicate content then I can then make sure google knows which one to index and that I own both. But if only one of them actually exists in the form of having any content whatsoever...why does google need to know or care that I own both or need to know which one to index? Any attempts to access the www in any fashion just get a permanent redirect to the non-www. Seems like a practice that's just become so embedded that people don't question it enough to realize it's pointless. – Jimbo Jonny Aug 03 '14 at 16:33
  • It seems to me like google gave this ability to counter a specific problem that is common: websites having duplicate versions (a www and non-www) that are both accessible, and needing to know which to index. However, people that actually know how to make their website NOT HAVE THAT PROBLEM would have no need for said solution to the problem. So why would one go out of their way to make sure they've verified a non-accessible/redirect only www part of the site to make sure google knows to index the non-www if the non-www is the only indexable part of the site anyway, and there is no duplicate? – Jimbo Jonny Aug 03 '14 at 16:38
  • Ok I see what you're saying and I do actually agree. My comment was because that's how google say it should be! Not because I think it's right (I don't). So I agree with you, but to satisfy google, you need to verify both! – Laurence Cope Aug 03 '14 at 21:32