Are you tired of seeing inconsistent URLs for your website, with some including “www” and others not? This can create confusion for both users and search engines, potentially harming your website’s visibility and credibility. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution: redirecting your “www” CNAME using the 301 redirect method.

What is a CNAME?

Before diving into how to redirect your “www” CNAME, it’s important to understand what a CNAME is. CNAME stands for Canonical Name, and it’s a type of DNS record used to map one domain name to another. For example, you might use a CNAME to map “www.example.com” to “example.com”, or to map a subdomain like “blog.example.com” to the main domain “example.com”.

What is a 301 Redirect?

A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from one URL to another. When a user or search engine crawler requests a URL that has been redirected with a 301 status code, they are automatically forwarded to the new URL. This is important for several reasons:

  • It ensures that users and search engines are directed to the correct URL, avoiding confusion and potential penalties for duplicate content.
  • It preserves any existing search engine rankings and backlinks for the old URL, as these are transferred to the new URL.
  • It allows you to consolidate multiple URLs into a single canonical URL, improving the clarity and consistency of your website’s structure.

Why Redirect Your “www” CNAME?

There are several reasons why you might want to redirect your “www” CNAME to your main domain:

  • It improves the consistency of your website’s URLs, avoiding confusion for users and search engines.
  • It ensures that all traffic is directed to a single canonical URL, which can improve search engine rankings and prevent duplicate content issues.
  • It simplifies your website’s structure and makes it easier to manage.

How to Redirect Your “www” CNAME Using a 301 Redirect

Now that you understand what a CNAME is and why you might want to redirect your “www” CNAME, let’s walk through the steps involved in doing so using a 301 redirect.

Step 1: Verify Ownership of Your Domain

Before making any changes to your DNS records, you’ll need to verify that you own the domain in question. This typically involves adding a DNS TXT record or HTML file to your website’s root directory, which can be done through your domain registrar or hosting provider.

Step 2: Access Your DNS Records

Once you’ve verified ownership of your domain, you’ll need to access your DNS records. This can typically be done through your domain registrar or hosting provider, or through a third-party DNS management tool.

Step 3: Create a CNAME Record for Your “www” Subdomain

In order to redirect your “www” CNAME, you’ll need to create a CNAME record for your “www” subdomain that points to your main domain. This can typically be done by adding a new DNS record and specifying the CNAME record type, the “www” subdomain as the hostname, and your main domain as the canonical name.

Step 4: Set Up a 301 Redirect

With your CNAME record in place, you can now set up a 301 redirect to ensure that all traffic is directed to your main domain. This can typically be done through your hosting provider or web server, or through a content management system (CMS) like WordPress.

To set up a 301 redirect using Apache, for example, you would add the following code to your website’s .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^

Step 5: Test Your Redirect

Once you’ve set up your redirect, it’s important to test it to ensure that it’s working correctly. You can do this by entering both the “www” and non-“www” versions of your domain into a web browser and checking that they are redirected to your main domain.

It’s also a good idea to use a tool like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to check for any crawl errors or duplicate content issues that might have resulted from the redirect.

How Riverbender.com Can Help You with Your Website

Redirecting your “www” CNAME using a 301 redirect can be a simple and effective way to improve the consistency and structure of your website’s URLs. However, it’s important to ensure that the process is carried out correctly to avoid any negative impact on your search engine rankings or user experience.

At Riverbender.com, we specialize in website design, development, and management, and we can help you with every aspect of your website’s optimization, including redirecting your “www” CNAME. Our team of experienced professionals will work with you to ensure that your website is optimized for search engines, user experience, and business goals.

So if you’re ready to take your website to the next level, contact us today and let us help you achieve your online goals! Call us today at 618-465-9850.