WWW used in research URL, or not to WWW

[SWGroves]

Long time user, infrequent poster.... thanks for taking my question...

When I go to gather a series of data elements on a company's URL, the data changes (sometime dramatically) depending on whether the 'www.' is added to the URL & it seems related more to Page data than Domain.

My question is about which data I should be using to assess the real strength of the site / page? Is there a 'best practice' question here, a personal preference or is there an actual difference in the performance of the www vs the non-www version?

aquGYdz

[Guest]

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[SWGroves]

James,

Thanks. I do often find significant differences in the 'www' data vs. the 'non-www', but I also understand that the Google Juice can flow from one to the other - but I think it has to do with how the 'A' record is set.

What's the optimum here? How SHOULD an 'A' Record be set? Is there a difference if I want to maximize results in search? Should it be different if I want to maximize SEM?

Inquiring Minds Want to Know... (Rita Skeeter)