Site Only Works With (or Without) 'www'
Your website loads at one version of the address but not the other — www or non-www fails, errors, or warns. To servers they're two different addresses until you make them agree.
Common signs of this issue
- yourbusiness.com works but www.yourbusiness.com fails — or the reverse.
- One version shows an error ("can't be reached"), a blank page, or lands somewhere unexpected.
- The SSL warning appears on only one of the two versions.
- Some visitors report the site 'down' while others reach it fine — split by which form they typed or which link they followed.
- It surfaced after a migration, an SSL change, or a DNS edit — the events that set the two forms out of sync.
Safe checks you can do yourself
None of these require sharing passwords with anyone.
- Test all four combinations deliberately and note each result:
http://andhttps://, each with and withoutwww.— "fails" splits into different diagnoses: a DNS error ("can't be reached") means that form has no DNS record; an SSL warning means DNS is fine but the certificate doesn't cover that form; wrong content means it points somewhere else entirely. - Check DNS has an entry for both forms: an A record for the root domain, and a www entry (typically a CNAME pointing at the root). A form with no record at all is invisible to the internet — the "can't be reached" case, fixed by adding the missing record where your DNS is managed.
- Check the SSL certificate covers both — free host certificates usually include www and non-www when issued properly, but not always, and a certificate issued before the second form had DNS may cover only one. An online SSL checker (or clicking the padlock) lists exactly which names a certificate covers.
- Decide your canonical version — the one address your brand lives at. Either choice is fine (this is branding, not SEO magic); consistency is what matters. Whichever you already use on signs, cards, and Google is the path of least resistance.
- Set a single 301 redirect from the non-preferred form to the canonical one — usually a hosting-panel toggle, an SSL/redirect plugin setting, or one .htaccess rule. One direction only: canonical never redirects back, or you've built the redirect loop from the too-many-redirects guide.
- Verify the finished state: both forms typed into a browser should land on the canonical version with a padlock and no warnings, and a redirect checker should show exactly one clean hop from the non-canonical form.
What this usually means
To DNS and servers, www.yourbusiness.com and yourbusiness.com are genuinely two different addresses that merely look related to humans. Each needs its own DNS record, its own SSL coverage, and a defined relationship — and any layer where only one form was configured (a missing record, a single-name certificate, a redirect set up for one) produces exactly this split behavior. Migrations and SSL setups are where the sync is most often lost.
The complete, stable arrangement has three parts: both forms resolve (DNS records for each), both are covered by SSL (so neither ever warns), and one redirects permanently to the other (so visitors, links, and search engines all converge on a single canonical address). Miss the first and some visitors get errors; miss the second and some get scary warnings; miss the third and your site exists as two competing copies.
The canonical redirect matters for search too: without it, Google may index both forms, splitting your pages' link value and rankings across duplicate addresses. One clean 301 consolidates everything onto the canonical form — one of those small technical settings that quietly protects all your other SEO effort.
What not to do
- Don't leave one form broken because "nobody types www anymore" — old links, bookmarks, directories, and some browsers' autocompletion still reach you by both, and every failed arrival is a lost visitor who won't report it.
- Don't create redirects pointing each form at the other — that's the ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS loop; exactly one direction, always.
- Don't assume your SSL covers both forms — verify with the padlock or an SSL checker; the one-form certificate is precisely how "secure without www, warning with it" happens.
- Don't flip your canonical choice later without care — changing it means redoing redirects, updating Search Console, and waiting out re-indexing; pick once, keep forever.
- Don't stack redirect mechanisms (host toggle AND plugin AND .htaccess rule) — one layer should own this redirect; multiple layers disagreeing is the loop's other origin story.
When to get help
This fix touches DNS, SSL, and redirects at once — three systems where a wrong move creates loops or warnings — so while each step is small, the coordination is exactly what an experienced person does in fifteen careful minutes. Worth handing over if any of the terms above felt foreign, if the site also has email on the domain (DNS edits deserve extra care then), or if your earlier attempt produced a redirect loop. The acceptance test is simple: all four address forms land on one canonical version, padlocked, no warnings, one hop.
Not sure what to do next?
Answer a few short questions and we'll point you to the safest next step — DIY, a freelancer, or a direct review. No passwords required.
Frequently asked questions
Should I pick www or non-www?
Either — search engines treat them equally, and it's purely a branding choice. Pick whichever you already use on printed materials and listings, make both resolve, and redirect the other to it. The choosing matters far less than the committing.
Why does only one version show a security warning?
The SSL certificate covers only that one form. Reissue or configure the certificate to include both www and non-www (free host SSL normally can), and the warning clears. The redirect alone doesn't fix this — the browser checks the certificate before following any redirect.
Does this affect my Google rankings?
Left unresolved, it can: both forms getting indexed splits your pages' authority across duplicates. The standard fix — both resolve, one 301s to the canonical — consolidates everything and is exactly what Google recommends. It's protective plumbing, not a growth hack.
What does 'canonical' mean here?
The one official address form everything converges on — the version links, redirects, and search listings all point to. Declaring it (by redirecting the other form to it) is how you stop existing as two competing copies of yourself.
One form of my address shows a completely different website. What happened?
That form's DNS record points somewhere else — an old host, a parking page, or a typo'd value. Check where each form's record aims (a DNS checker shows this) and correct the stray one to match its sibling.
I set the redirect and now the site loops endlessly. What did I do?
Two redirect rules are pointing at each other — often a hosting toggle plus a plugin setting, or the new rule colliding with an old one. Remove all but one mechanism and ensure the canonical form never redirects anywhere. The too-many-redirects guide walks the untangling.