Missing 10,000s of backlinks -Should I Redirect "www" to "http://"

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Missing 10,000s of backlinks -Should I Redirect "www" to "http://"

redirect permalinks

dba2003

12:38 am on Jul 24, 2009 (gmt 0)

I recently bought a well established blog that runs its permalinks using only "http://example.com" .The site has 10,000s (possibly the majority) of backlinks using the incorrect www.example.com. Site is several years old and only has PR3.

I am afraid the site is missing out on substantial link juice from links not pointing to the "correct" http://example.com

My question is; Should I be setting up a redirect of some sort (which and how?) from the "www" version of the site to "http://" version? OR is there another/better way to address this...if needed?

I am unsure if this is the correct forum but I appreciate any assistance in this matter.

[edited by: phranque at 10:13 am (utc) on July 24, 2009]
[edit reason] exemplified domains [/edit]

jdMorgan

1:47 am on Jul 24, 2009 (gmt 0)

My question is; Should I be setting up a redirect of some sort from the "www" version of the site to "http://" version?

Yes, always redirect non-canonical URLs to the preferred canonical form, preferably before you ever put your site on-line.

(which and how?)

301-Moved Permanently

How you do this depends on what kind of server you're hosted on, and what 'tools' your host provides, whether that is a Control Panel, or the permissions required to implement your own server-side code, and whether you prefer adding server configuration code or using a scripted (e.g. PHP) approach.

Jim

dba2003

1:53 am on Jul 24, 2009 (gmt 0)

Thanks jdMorgan, Seems clear this must /should be done asap. Question now becomes how to best do it. Is there perhaps an option of adding anything to the .htaccess file to do this?

I will also contact my host re your suggestion

Regards

jdMorgan

7:40 pm on Jul 24, 2009 (gmt 0)

This subject is already well-covered. Please try a search on WebmasterWorld for threads pertaining to redirect www non-www rewritecond http_host [google.com].

Jim