http://www.domain.com/ = www.domain.com/?

[AustrianOak]

Hey.. for those of you who might know..

When switching from /index.html pointing to www.domain.com/ pointing is it also ok to use "http://www.domain.com" (so basically adding the http:// part.

Thanks,
Oak

[g1smd]

If you link to just href="www.domain.com" then Google will treat that as if it were just a page name on your site. You need to add the http:// part to clarify that what follows is the domain name. Don't forget to add the trailing "/" on to the URL too.

[Frederic1]

Don't forget to add the trailing "/" on to the URL too.

Are you sure?

afaik, <A HREF="http://www.domain.com"> is the same as <A HREF="http://www.domain.com/">

isn't it?

[AustrianOak]

Thank G1.. I meant to actually write [domain.com...] with the ending slash.

As for not using the www.domain.com/ alone, my server for some reason takes the link to [domain.com...]

That is why I am adding the "http://" to the start.

I'll keep readers posted if it makes any sig. changes to my status.

[trader]

Have always wondered what the significance of the trailing slash is? What happens if not used? Should the ending / also be used in SE submissions?

[kennylucius]

As for not using the www.domain.com/ alone, my server for some reason takes the link to [domain.com...]

You need a starting slash to indicate that the URL with the domain name, otherwise it is resolved as a relative path--a directory within the current directory. In other words

"/" = "http://www.domain.com/"
"www.domain.com/" = "http://current_domain/current_dir/www.domain.com/"

[g1smd]

The trailing / is of more importance when linking to a folder rather than to the root of a site, but it is a good habit to get into.

If you link to /folder there will be an internal redirect from /folder to /folder/ in most cases, and sometimes [webmasterworld.com] a double [webmasterworld.com] redirect [webmasterworld.com] instead [webmasterworld.com].

[AustrianOak]

Thanks Kenny, G1

[Brian]

I've never added / to the end of my urls, and don't see why it would help. Just seems like a bunch of extra keystrokes.

[AustrianOak]

Well it's helped a few webmasters that have been hit with refreshes.. when you haven't done anything wrong and have been "penalized" for following google guidelines with no tricks.. then it's worth trying new simple things that have helped others.

[Frederic1]

Thanks for the brilliant posts g1smd. I'd like to add that the trailing slash is very important when linking to a folder name because in "http://www.domain.com/something", "something" can either be a filename or a directory so the trailing slash is needed here to say that it's a directory. On the other hand [domain.com...] is less ambigious because it's always the root directory (besides it's not possible to define a redirection from [domain.com...] to [domain.com...] because it's the same : REQUEST_URI equals "/" on both cases so forcing a 301/302 redirection leads to an infinite loop). However it's always a good habit to add the trailing slash like you said :D

[g1smd]

>> I've never added / to the end of my urls, and don't see why it would help. <<

Check out the four threads that I linked to in my post above, and all will become clear. I assume that you haven't yet read them.