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December 21, 2005
Two URLs to a site—one that is prefaced with www and one that is not (for instance,
https://www.example.com/ and https://example.com/)—often point to the same
location on a server. But depending on the server configuration, they may point to different
locations, so search engines can't assume they are the same.
This post provides tips for
viewing stats
if the www and non-www version of your site point to the same location.
If you have added your site without prefacing the domain with www (for instance,
https://example.com/), and the www version of this domain points to the same location,
try adding the www version
of the domain (for instance, https://www.example.com/) to your account. You may see a wider
variety of stats for the www version of the domain.
You can add a site by:
Clicking the Add tab.
Scrolling to the "If you don't have a Sitemap" area and entering the site URL.
Clicking Add Site.
Similarly, if you have added the www version of the domain and the non-www version points to the
same location, you can add the non-www version to see stats for that version.
If the verification file still exists in the root of your site and both versions of the domain
point to the same location, you can
verify
the second version simply by accessing the Verify tab and clicking the Verify
button.
Note that having both versions of the site's URL listed in your account won't affect the indexing
of your site as long as you have submitted a Sitemap for only one version—the version you
want to be indexed. Don't submit a Sitemap for both versions if the location and content are the
same.
If both domains point to the same location and you have pages indexed under both versions, see our
Google Help Center
for more information on consolidating the listings under one domain.
We hear requests for help with this often, so we'll be looking at ways to improve this issue in
the coming months.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eURLs with and without "www" can point to the same or different server locations, impacting how search engines view them.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAdding both "www" and non-"www" versions of your site to Google Search Console can provide a wider range of statistics.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eVerifying both versions is simple if they point to the same location and the verification file exists.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSubmit a Sitemap for only one preferred domain version to avoid indexing issues when both versions have the same content.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIf pages are indexed under both "www" and non-"www" versions, consolidate them under one domain for better search engine optimization.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The core actions include adding both the \"www\" and \"non-www\" versions of a website to Search Console if they point to the same location to view comprehensive statistics. Users can add a site via the \"Add\" tab. If both versions are verified and point to the same location, only one version should have a sitemap submitted. If both versions are indexed, users can learn to consolidate listings. Verifying the second version is possible if the verification file is available.\n"],null,["# www vs non-www versions of a site\n\nDecember 21, 2005\n| It's been a while since we published this blog post. Some of the information may be outdated (for example, some images may be missing, and some links may not work anymore). Learn how to [add a website property to Search Console](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34592).\n\n\nTwo URLs to a site---one that is prefaced with www and one that is not (for instance,\n**https://www.example.com/** and **https://example.com/**)---often point to the same\nlocation on a server. But depending on the server configuration, they may point to different\nlocations, so search engines can't assume they are the same.\n\n\nThis post provides tips for\n[viewing stats](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080)\nif the www and non-www version of your site point to the same location.\n\n\nIf you have added your site without prefacing the domain with www (for instance,\n**https://example.com/** ), and the www version of this domain points to the same location,\ntry [adding](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview#add_site) the www version\nof the domain (for instance, **https://www.example.com/**) to your account. You may see a wider\nvariety of stats for the www version of the domain.\n\nYou can add a site by:\n\n1. Clicking the **Add**tab.\n2. Scrolling to the \"If you don't have a Sitemap\" area and entering the site URL.\n3. Clicking **Add Site**.\n\n\nSimilarly, if you have added the www version of the domain and the non-www version points to the\nsame location, you can add the non-www version to see stats for that version.\n\n\nIf the verification file still exists in the root of your site and both versions of the domain\npoint to the same location, you can\n[verify](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080)\nthe second version simply by accessing the **Verify** tab and clicking the **Verify**\nbutton.\n\n\nNote that having both versions of the site's URL listed in your account won't affect the indexing\nof your site as long as you have submitted a Sitemap for only one version---the version you\nwant to be indexed. Don't submit a Sitemap for both versions if the location and content are the\nsame.\n\n\nIf both domains point to the same location and you have pages indexed under both versions, see our\n[Google Help Center](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34592)\nfor more information on consolidating the listings under one domain.\n\n\nWe hear requests for help with this often, so we'll be looking at ways to improve this issue in\nthe coming months.\n\nPosted by [Vanessa Fox](https://www.vanessafox.com/)"]]
