Issue 11

This issue checks whether a website consistently redirects between the www and non-www versions of the domain, ensuring only one version is accessible.

A passing implementation means:

• Either the www version (https://www.example.com) OR the non-www version (https://example.com) is the canonical version
• The non-preferred version automatically redirects to the preferred version using 301 redirects
• All variations (http/https, www/non-www) ultimately resolve to the same canonical URL

Example: If the preferred version is non-www, then:

• http://example.com → https://example.com
• http://www.example.com → https://example.com
• https://www.example.com → https://example.com

Duplicate Content: Search engines may index both www and non-www versions as separate pages, splitting ranking signals and causing duplicate content issues.

Crawl Budget: Crawling both versions wastes crawl budget on duplicate pages instead of discovering new content.

Link Equity: Backlinks pointing to both versions dilute the page's authority instead of consolidating it to a single URL.

Rankings: Inconsistent redirects confuse search engines about which URL is the canonical version, potentially hurting rankings.

SEO Health Score: Resolving this issue improves the technical SEO score by eliminating duplicate content risks and consolidating ranking signals.

1. Choose your preferred domain format - Decide whether to use www or non-www (consider existing backlinks and brand consistency).

2. Configure server-side redirects - Set up 301 redirects from the non-preferred version to the preferred version at the server level (Apache, Nginx, Cloudflare, etc.).

3. Redirect all variations - Ensure all four combinations redirect properly:

   • http://www → https://preferred
   • http://non-www → https://preferred
   • https://non-preferred → https://preferred

4. Update Google Search Console - Add both versions (www and non-www) and set the preferred domain in GSC settings.

5. Update internal links - Ensure all internal links use the canonical version consistently.

6. Update XML sitemap - Only include the preferred version URLs in your sitemap.

Example 1: Inconsistent WWW vs Non-WWW

Problematic State (Fails): Both versions are accessible without redirecting:

• https://example.com returns 200 OK
• https://www.example.com returns 200 OK

Search engines may index both as separate pages.

Corrected State (Passes): Choose one canonical version and redirect the other:

• https://www.example.com → 301 redirect → https://example.com
• https://example.com returns 200 OK (canonical)

Example 2: Missing HTTP to HTTPS Redirect

Problematic State (Fails): HTTPS redirects properly, but HTTP doesn't:

• http://example.com returns 200 OK (no redirect)
• https://www.example.com → https://example.com (redirects)

Corrected State (Passes): Ensure all HTTP versions redirect to HTTPS:

• http://example.com → 301 redirect → https://example.com
• http://www.example.com → 301 redirect → https://example.com
• https://www.example.com → 301 redirect → https://example.com

Example 3: Using 302 Instead of 301

Problematic State (Fails): Using temporary (302) redirects instead of permanent (301):

• https://www.example.com → 302 redirect → https://example.com

Corrected State (Passes): Use 301 permanent redirects:

• https://www.example.com → 301 redirect → https://example.com

PixyScan performs the following checks:

1. Crawls both versions - The crawler attempts to access both the www and non-www versions of the domain.

2. Checks redirect behavior - For each version, PixyScan follows the redirect chain and records the final destination URL.

3. Validates consistency - The system checks whether all variations (http/https, www/non-www) consistently redirect to a single canonical version.

4. Identifies redirect type - PixyScan verifies that 301 (permanent) redirects are used, not 302 (temporary) redirects.

5. Reports issues - If both versions are accessible without redirecting to a single canonical URL, or if redirects are inconsistent, the issue is flagged.