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Recently I registered a .com address for a business. In the modern world (year 2018) why would I need to add and maintain the www. subdomain of my domain?

I'm mostly interested in benefits of the subdomain. Thinking if I should bother doing the www.EXAMPLE.com -> EXAMPLE.com redirection.

UPD: I am not asking about SEO, not asking personal opinions, not asking tech details. The linked "duplicate" question is very different to my question.

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  • Sorry but we already have a handful of questions and answers regarding www vs non-www in various forms on Pro Webmasters, please use the search function and should also be noted no right or wrong questions are generally not allowed due to them being opinionated. Visit our help centre for further assistance. Commented Dec 13, 2017 at 23:59
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    The value of www is that people will likely type it automatically. If I understand you correctly, you are asking, What is the point of having www these days when it really is not necessary? If that is the case, and assuming your site is actually on example.com, the www is a user friendly thing to do. It is not required, never was, but a good idea still. Cheers!!
    – closetnoc
    Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 1:27
  • @SimonHayter thank you. The linked question does not answer my question about "why would I need www". Also, you linked a different question about SEO, which is not my intention. Whereas closetnoc did answer it brilliantly in the comment. I'd rather keep this question open for answers and let closetnoc answer it properly. Thank you in advance. Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 2:53
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    @VasylBoroviak If you're not asking this in relationship to SEO or why it's technically used, then it's really just a matter of preference as to which to use. Large sites tend to use www to separate the main site from other subdomains (e.g., for different types of content and languages) and protocols (e.g., ftp). Using www as a host also helps with the flexibility of DNS management and the ability to restrict cookies when using multiple subdomains. That of course borders on the technical explanation however... Once you pick one, then you should stick to that and direct the other to it.
    – dan
    Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 5:41

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This answer contains my comment and then @dan's comment. Both show two different thoughts on the subject. Combined, they make a good answer. Any other points are certainly welcome.

The value of www is that people will likely type it automatically. If I understand you correctly, you are asking, What is the point of having www these days when it really is not necessary? If that is the case, and assuming your site is actually on example.com, the www is a user friendly thing to do. It is not required, never was, but a good idea still.

If you're not asking this in relationship to SEO or why it's technically used, then it's really just a matter of preference as to which to use. Large sites tend to use www to separate the main site from other sub-domains (e.g., for different types of content and languages) and protocols (e.g., ftp). Using www as a host also helps with the flexibility of DNS management and the ability to restrict cookies when using multiple sub-domains. That of course borders on the technical explanation however... Once you pick one, then you should stick to that and direct the other to it.

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