www vs http

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Raone
Posts: 54
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 7:45 pm
Location: Abruzzo, Italy

www vs http

Post by Raone »

I'm currently constructing a website via Microsof do it yourself one. However when I put my chosen web address in a search engine using the www prefix it doesn't come up, but when I just use the http it does.

Can anyone tell me why this is and can I change it as I'd rather have a www.

Please reply in non too technical IT talk. :)

Thanks

Raone
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CSE
Posts: 4414
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Post by CSE »

Why do you want to search for your website using the whole address?
All websites have http in front but not every website has www after.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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vrooje
Posts: 3202
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:48 am
Location: Burgundy, France

Post by vrooje »

Raone,

http and www are two different things.

Using http tells your browser it's searching for a displayable website. Every website is accessed by putting the text "http://" at the beginning of the address. Browsers are smart enough to add it themselves if you don't type it into the address bar, but it technically has to be there.

"www" is part of the address of a website. Not all sites have www as a necessary part of their address, but most have it as at least an optional part.

An example: typing www.google.com and google.com into your browser will cause your browser to go to the same place: http://www.google.com.

But when people are doing a search, they usually omit both www and http, because (as casasantoestevo said) they don't add helpful information to the search.
Brooke
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