Canonicalization preference

www vs non-www

[patrick89]

Hi,

I'd like to clear up any canonicalization issues on my site. However, in choosing which to go with (www vs non-www), I've across a problem...I'd personally like to choose the "www" version, however, the number of indexed pages for the non-www version is ~350 to 20 for the "www" version. The number of backlinks is pretty even for both. The site's about 5 months old.

Which version would you guys choose?

[Moncao]

I'd go with www. only because people recognize www. when they mention a web site verbally, so I think they like the look of www. more when they surf.

[piatkow]

If you give people a link to add with non www a significant proportion will correct your "mistake" and add it in.

Go with www

[callivert]

Whatever people type in, if you've configured htaccess right it will just revert to your canonical version anyway- so it doesn't matter what they type.
www seems like an anachronism.
Surely the day will come when we can stop using it.