Changed preferred domain in webmaster tools, serps not updated

[seolein]

Hey guys,

I have www and non-www for my website added as property in google webmaster tools.

I have an issue with the non-www version of my site so I changed my preferred domain to WWW-version 2,5 weeks ago...

Does someone know how long it takes, until google reflects the change in the search results ?

[JesterMagic]

You should start seeing changes within a few days but it does take over a month to change all pages... depends on the size of your site and how popular it is.

You should also setup a 301 redirect (if you have not already) from your non-www pages to www pages. If you haven't this would be part of your problem.

[seolein]

Thanks for your quick help.

my page is quite small and not yet so popular... it's a new project (2months old)

Is there anything else I can do except waiting ? I find it takes a bit too long..

thanks for the 301 redirect tip.. will set this up today.

[not2easy]

The 301s should speed up the change. It is best to use rewrites in .htaccess and you can find many examples in the Apache Forum [webmasterworld.com] to make sure it is done right.

If internal links are not relative links and use non-www URLs, be sure to update those. It can cause confusion if Google is able to access both versions (with and without www) but also if you choose www and use non-www in your navigation and sitemap.

[RedBar]

it's a new project (2months old)

All you can do is wait, it can take anywhere from 6 to 12 months to get any decent rankings, long gone are the days of getting sites to appear within a few days.

In fact the search engines are pretty much a hopeless cause for lots of sites now unless they plan well in advance or have an exclusive product(s).

Product(s) or information.