If you stop and think about our ever changing world, it is truly amazing the technology we have available literally at our fingertips.   And the question has to be asked, how mobile are you?

If your as old as me you can remember when phones were actually 'dialed' and were attached to the wall.  And worse than that, all you could do with them was talk to someone.  Today our modern smart phones are actually mobile computing devices with an ever increasing capability, not to mention the advent of tablets.

To www or not to www?

One of the most important things you can do to improve the search engine optimization of your website is to solve the so-called "canonicalization" issue. Basically, you want to make sure that you don't have multiple links that all point to the same page.

Believe it or not, there is a different between "www.mydomain.com" and "mydomain.com." Technically speaking "www." is a subdomain of "mydomain.com".  If you wanted, you could actually set up completely different websites on those two different domains!

"Canonicalization" is the process you go through to make sure that only one canonical (or, primary) domain leads to the webpage. Matt Cutts of Google has a good explanation of this topic.  There are a number of things you can do to solve this problem, but probably the best solution is to use a 301 redirect of one version to the other.

Should My Domain Name Use www or Not?

This leads to the question - which way is best? Different people in the industry have different opinions, so it can be difficult to know what to do.

I used to prefer domains without the www, but I've changed my mind in recent times. Although I know that you don't need to type in the www, it seems to me that the majority of users are still accustomed to typing the www in first. In my experience, the majority of backlinks coming into websites that haven't set up URL canonicalization use "www." in the link. I think if you decide to go with the non-www version, then you will still have a significant portion of people linking to you with the www version anyways.
Even though you can and should certainly set up URL canonicalization, it's still best practice to have links coming in consistently to the same version of the URL. If all of your links are formatted the same, and you've set up proper URL canonicalization, then there will be overwhelming evidence in favor of your preferred version of the URL. I think you are more likely to get that result if you use the www than if you don't.

Nevertheless, this is such a marginal issue that I wouldn't make a big change if you have already set up your canonical URL without the www. The most important thing is to be completely consistent on your own website.

Just my two cents - what do you think? Do you prefer domain names with or without the "www?"

Local search is becoming increasingly important. Google reports that 20% of search queries have local intent, amounting to billions of searches per month. What's more, local search is even more critical in the booming mobile search space. Microsoft recently reported that 53% of mobile searches have local intent.

Beyond raw numbers, local search is important for another reason - those searching locally are often the most highly qualified customers. People searching for "prom dress" may just want to browse styles, but a search for "prom dress in michigan" indicates they have a real intent to purchase. Making sure you show up prominently when local searchers are looking for your products or services is critical for success. It will only become more critical as the push towards mobile search continues and as more and more people stop consulting the yellow pages and go straight to their favorite search engine to find what they need.

Loading up on domain names is often the first step taken to improve SEO. Who wouldn't want a bunch of keyword rich domain names to point to their site? Unfortunately, this tactic doesn't usually yield good results, and can actually be dangerous is handled incorrectly. Read on to learn the right way to forward your domains so that you don't hurt your rankings.

Today's Myth: If I get a higher PageRank score, I'll definitely rank higher than my competitors.

Today's Myth: The ultimate goal of search engine optimization is getting as many visitors as possible to my website. The more visitors I get, the more successful I'll be.

Today's Myth: If I pay this company to search engine optimize our site, then we will rise in the rankings.

Today's Myth: Search engine optimization campaigns just require an initial effort and then results will keep coming in.

Today's Myth: There is a magic SEO formula, and if we just get that right, we'll be guaranteed to make it to the top.