🗺️ Overview
By default, your Website Studio site may be accessible at both www.yourdomain.com and yourdomain.com. For SEO and consistency, it is best practice to pick one version as your canonical domain and redirect the other to it. This article walks you through configuring a www → non-www redirect so that all visitors land on yourdomain.com.
⚙️ Before You Begin
Make sure you have completed the following before attempting to configure a redirect:
- Your custom domain is already connected to your Website Studio site. If you have not done this yet, complete the Custom Domain Setup steps first.
- You have access to your domain registrar or DNS provider (for example, Cloudflare, GoDaddy, or Namecheap) to update DNS records.
- You are logged in to Search Atlas and can navigate to Website Studio via the left sidebar.
🔍 How www to Non-www Redirection Works
When a visitor types www.yourdomain.com, a 301 (permanent) redirect sends them automatically to yourdomain.com. This tells search engines that the non-www version is the authoritative address, consolidating your SEO signals and avoiding duplicate content issues.
🛠️ Step-by-Step: Configure the Redirect in Website Studio
- Open Website Studio. In the left sidebar, click Website Studio. Your site dashboard will open.
- Go to your domain settings. Inside your site, locate the Domain or Settings section. This is where your connected custom domain is listed.
- Set the primary domain to the non-www version. Ensure your primary domain is entered as yourdomain.com (without www). If the hostname field currently shows the www version, update it to the non-www version and save.
- Enable the www redirect. Look for a Redirect www to non-www toggle or option. Enable it so that any request to www.yourdomain.com is automatically forwarded to yourdomain.com with a 301 redirect.
- Save your changes and wait a few minutes for the settings to propagate across the CDN.
🌍 Update Your DNS Records
For the redirect to work correctly, your DNS configuration must point both the www and non-www versions of your domain to your Website Studio site. Log in to your DNS provider and confirm the following records exist:
- **A record (or CNAME):**yourdomain.com → your Website Studio IP address or CDN hostname (provided in your domain settings).
- **CNAME record:**www.yourdomain.com → your Website Studio CDN hostname (for example, sites.searchatlas.com or as shown in your domain settings).
DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate globally, though most updates are visible within a few hours.
✅ Verify the Redirect Is Working
Once your settings are saved and DNS has propagated, confirm the redirect is active:
- Open a browser and type www.yourdomain.com in the address bar.
- Press Enter. The browser should immediately redirect to yourdomain.com (without www).
- Check the final URL in the address bar to confirm it shows the non-www version.
- Optionally, use a tool such as redirect-checker.org to confirm the redirect returns a 301 Moved Permanently status code.
⚠️ Common Issues and Tips
- Site still loads on www after saving: DNS propagation may not be complete. Wait up to 48 hours and test again.
- Both versions load without redirecting: Double-check that the www redirect toggle is enabled in your domain settings and that your CNAME record for www is correctly pointing to the Website Studio CDN hostname.
- Open Graph or meta tags still show the www URL: After changing your primary domain to non-www, review your site's SEO settings and update any hardcoded www references in page metadata, og:url fields, and sitemap URLs.
- Redirect loop errors: This can occur if conflicting redirect rules exist at the DNS level (for example, a server-level redirect that conflicts with Website Studio settings). Remove any duplicate redirect rules from your DNS provider.
💬 Need More Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.