Google WebMasters Tool - Preferred Domain
-
I just added Google Analytics to my wordpress site with Google Analytics by YOAST. I then added Google WebMaster tools through via verify through google analytics account. I then tried to set a preferred domain. I chose the non www. version; however, google wanted me to verify ownership of both versions in order to set a preferred domain. I then added the www. version of my domain. I was able to set the non-www. version to my preferred domain. Now, there are two example.com's in my webmaster tools. I have 10 sites. I intend to replicate this process on all of my sites.
Do I have to leave the non-preferred version of my sites in the google webmaster? Can I delete it after I have set my preferred version? If I delete the non-preferred version will it delete my setting on the preferred version because it is now no longer verified (saved)?
-
I hope I have achieved the forward properly.
I went into my godaddy account and forwarded www. to http:pensacolarealtors.com. When it asked me the name of the subdomain, I typed "www." I didn't type www.pensacolarealtors.com because it had a blank line then .pensacolarealtors.com. I was assuming I just needed to add the www.
-
Hi Joseph,
It's best to leave both versions in Webmaster tools.
That said, if you have Wordpress (or hosting) set up correctly to 301 redirect all www to non-www, then this is a minor point as Google will generally display only the URL that it has indexed.
-
thanks Joseph, much appreciated.
-
Yea, I suppose. I am concerned with so many domains on my webmasters tool that I might one day click the wrong domain version.
I am very new to webmaster tools (today) so I don't know what I could mess up by going into the wrong one.
Thanks for your help on this thread and the other ones SEO5, you get the good answers!
-
i would not recommend deleting it. If you have already verified the preferences, then no harm leaving the other domain in the account.
-
I have done that. That was not the question. Allow me to clarify.
I now have webmaster tools open. I am looking at the example.com and the www.example.com in my webmaster tools. Can I delete the www.example.com from webtools? Will this cause my example.com to NOT be the preferred domain anymore? I
I had to verify both domains in order to get the webmaster tools to let me set a preference.
-
Google's official response on the issue below:
Once you've set your preferred domain, you may want to use a 301 redirect to redirect traffic from your non-preferred domain, so that other search engines and visitors know which version you prefer.
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=44231
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Webmaster Tools and Geolocation
Our site gets a significant amount of traffic from Venezuela, about 9% based on our Google Analytics (the US being 63%). According to Webmaster Tools we get 48% of our clicks from Venezuela. That discrepancy is massive, considering we are an English site. My theory is that they are not allowed/capable of using secure search in Venezuela for some legal reason and therefore their searches are much more 'visible'. Does anyone have any insight?
Reporting & Analytics | | evansluke0 -
I want to take down some pages, how do I inform google?
Hey Guys, I'm hoping someone can help - I'm in the midst of a site re-design - whilst one of our biggest reasons for the redesign was to create more space to write valuable content and unique content I have been reading other posts on moz about content auditing. I have come across a few articles in my own blog that are from 250 - 300 words to which the articles seem similar and the traffic is low. I'm wondering while I'm left to consolidate these articles and create a fresh article for each entry that is more in-depth, when I consolidate or delete these pages - do I need to inform google these pages have now been deleted? If so using Wordpress what is the best way to do this? Cheers and would appreciate some advise Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | edward-may0 -
How would I create this type of report in Google Analytics?
I work for an e-commerce site. I would like to run a weekly report to see what every category pages increase and decrease for pageviews would be. How would I do that?
Reporting & Analytics | | EcommerceSite0 -
Google Analytics Organic Accuracy?
Hi, On a cool summers day, I was quenching my thirst for SEO Knowledge in the depths of Google analytics, When I stumbled upon a most troublesome sight. I was Browsing the data inside Acquisition->Keywords->Organic and comparing them to Acquisition->Search Engine Optimization->Landing Pages, to find the results quite questionable.. Since Keywords->Organic measure the visits from the organic results, and Search Engine Optimization->Landing Pages measures the clicks onto one of my landing pages from Google, I assumed they should be the same or very close, (besides Keywords->Organic having visits from other search engines) but they were not the same, as a matter of fact it was telling me that Keywords->Organic visits = 1,474, 27.19% of total(5,422) and Search Engine Optimization->Landing Pages, clicks = 1,548 154.80% of total (1000). Even worst the Search Engine Optimization -> Queries clicks = 1,123, 160.43% of total(700). I have been searching, and come up empty handed in the answer so does anyone know why Google is showing me different results and strange numbers that don't make sense? Any information is greatly appreciated?
Reporting & Analytics | | KBB_Digital0 -
Google Analytics question
Hi, I recently relaunched my site on a wordpress CMS. The relaunch has gone well except for a category of traffic within Google Analytics which is referral traffic from google.co.uk (its a UK site) which has dropped off hugely. The non-paid search traffic from google.co.uk is the same or better than it was. Can anyone tell me what the difference is between referral traffic from google.co.uk and non-paid search traffic from google.co.uk. Thanks for your help. Ben
Reporting & Analytics | | benacuity0 -
Is Google Webmaster Tools Index Status Completely Correct?
So I was thrilled when Webmaster tools released the little graph telling you how many pages are indexed. However, I noticed with one of my sites, that it was actually going down over the past year. I've only been doing the SEO on the site for a few months, so it wasn't anything I did. The chart is attached to this post. Now here's the funny part. I haven't really noticed anything out of the ordinary for keyword ranking dropping off. I also tested my most recent page that I put up. 3 days after I posted it, I could find it in a Google search. Shouldn't this mean that's it's indexed? I can also find any other page I've posted in the last few months. Another oddity is that I submitted a sitemap a while ago when the site was only 22 pages. The sitemap index count says 20 of those pages are indexed. The chart only says that there are 3 indexed pages right now. However, I can clearly find dozens of pages in Google searches. Is there something I'm missing? Is my chart for this website broken? Should I report this to Google? Has anyone had a similar issue? decreaseIndex.png
Reporting & Analytics | | mytouchoftech0 -
Google Analytics help - exporting reports
Hey mozzers, A little help if you will. I am in traffic sources > sources > search > organic I am view keywords and comparing 1 month with another. Now I see what 1 keyword sends 1st month, 2nd month and % Change. I want to export this data to an .xls file. When I do, I end up with a file that shows what 1 keyword sends 1st month and 2nd month, but no % Change! I really need to include this in exported document.... Summary: Analytics hates me. 🙂
Reporting & Analytics | | MirandaP0 -
Analytics/Google Keyword comparison
Hi I'm trying to establish a methodology to best show the gap between potential and realised organic keyword traffic. To obtain potential keyword traffic I'm using the Google Adwords keyword tool to derive local monthly search volumes for exact keyword matches. However, I'm confused as to which is the best way of getting a comparable metric from Google Analytics (GA). I was using custom reports and the 'organic searches' metric. However, this provides different values to a standard report selecting non-paid search in the default advanced segments. What is the best report/metric in GA to use for both organic and paid search volumes that would be comparable to the Google Adwords keyword tool. Also, I'm having problems getting my kids to eat their greens, any advice! 😉 Thanks Neil
Reporting & Analytics | | mccormackmorrison0