Be careful if you link to your own sites (or ask for recip links) without the www and without using a 301 re-direct. Google will index these as two separate sites and give you a duplicate content penalty.
I’ll use Dominique’s sig here, as as example (I hope that’s OK). She has her Bingo Area hyperlinked without the www. When I clicked on that link, I did not see that URL re-directed to the www version (You can see this in the address bar on your browser and it indicates that a 301 re-direct is in place.) What may happen is that Google will index both the www and non-www of her page (which it has) and will penalize her site in some way. Now, I am not sure of the degree of this penalty, but when I first started Play Video Poker Slots, my site was indexed twice (once with the www and once without) it caused me a lot of headaches!
In Dom’s case, it could just be that her one Bingo Page will be penalized, I can not say for sure, but since Dom does not have 301 re-directs enabled on GamesandCasino AND she has linked to her Bingo page in her Sig WITHOUT the www, this may cause problems.
Dom, if you are doing this for some other reason that I am unaware of, I apologize for using your signature links, as an example, but if you were not aware of the ‘no 301 re-direct’ Google Duplicate Content Penalty, it might be a good idea to change the Bingo Link in your sig to include the www.
Gee, thanks for pointing that out! I used that URL for the soft launch and then changed to the www. and it’s an oversight.. I’ll take care of that right away!
Luckily it hasn’t hurt me yet – #1 in MSN for Bingo Forum and #2 in Google for Bingo Forum.
Thanks again, voodooman! What would I do without my friends at CAP!