Time to Drop the 'www'

We said it in 2010 and we still use plain 3by400.com today. Here's the practical side we left out the first time.

Our take (still)

Our address is 3by400.com, with no "www." Back in 2010 we argued the prefix was just extra letters, took up room on business cards and buried your name between "www" and ".com." All of that still holds. Everybody knows it's the web.

What matters more than the choice

Search engines don't care which version you pick. They care that you pick one. If both www.yoursite.com and yoursite.com load the same pages without redirecting, you've got two copies of your site competing with each other. Here's how to fix that: - Choose your preferred version. Without "www" is our vote, but either is fine. - Redirect the other version to it with a permanent (301) redirect. - Do the same for http to https, so every visitor ends up on one secure address. - Use the same version everywhere: links, email signatures, Google Business Profile and print.

How to set it up

This is usually handled at the server or in .htaccess, plus a CMS setting. For page-level redirects, see How to Add a Redirect in Joomla or in WordPress. Domain and DNS settings come into play too, and Domain, DNS, and Business Email Basics explains who controls what.

One caveat

Some setups, especially with certain DNS or CDN providers, are easier with "www." That's fine. Being consistent beats our preference.

Not sure which version your site answers to? On our boutique hosting, clients can open a ticket and we'll check it. Otherwise, call 678-379-9321 or contact us.