Which method is better to add www. before domain name

Question

I have search through google and found 2 methods to add "www" before domain name. first is by adding a CNAME and second is using rewrite mod in .htaccess file.

I just want to know which method is better to use or there is other method because I'm currently using standalone wordpress as my back end.

Answer 1

You need both - the CNAME is a DNS record that points www.example.com to example.com's server so that if a browser tries to open www.example.com then it can find what server (IP address) it is stored on. The second is a rule on the server that says "if someone loads example.com, tell them that they should have loaded www.example.com"

Answer 2

in case you dont use CNAME records, htaccess can redirect too:

In your FTP root (maybe in public_html) should be a file called .htaccess, then open it and add this code into it (problably after the first line, bofore other rules start) .

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]
</IfModule>

( if there is not such file, then create a simple new text file with notepad and upload to the website root directory, and rename it to .htaccess )

This is 301 (which is permanent redirect), and then after a few weeks the site will be visible with www in Google search engines anymore.