3.5
Apex to www
Every version of your domain. One address.
example.com, www.example.com, http, https - visitors land on all four. Redirect Supply merges them automatically, so there's only ever one canonical address for search engines and visitors to find.
Problem
The Problem
Every domain technically has four addresses (http and https, apex and www) and by default, all four can resolve as separate, live pages. Search engines see four URLs where you meant one, and links pointing at different versions split traffic and ranking signals between them.
Most site owners don't choose this on purpose - it's just what happens when DNS and hosting are configured separately, with nothing forcing every version to agree.
What can go wrong:
Google indexes both www and apex as separate, competing pages
Backlinks split across versions instead of stacking on one
Visitors see inconsistent URLs depending on how they arrived
Mixed HTTP/HTTPS versions trigger security warnings
Solution
The Fix
Redirect Supply merges apex and www - along with http and https - into one destination by design. Pick the version you want as canonical, and every other variant automatically funnels there. There's no separate configuration to get wrong, because the product doesn't allow apex and www to point at different places.
One address in, one address out - every time, for every visitor, regardless of what they typed.
Do it in this order:
Decide whether your canonical address is apex or www
Point both apex and www DNS records at Redirect Supply
Set your redirect destination to the version you chose
Confirm HTTPS is active - it's automatic on every version
Test all four combinations resolve to the same final URL
Update your canonical tags and Search Console to match
Success
What success looks like
Done right, your domain only ever has one real address - no matter which version a visitor types, clicks, or bookmarks, they land in the same place, and so does every search engine crawler.
No split rankings, no duplicate content flags, no wondering which version is the "real" one.
What you get:
Apex and www always resolve to the same destination
HTTP automatically upgrades to HTTPS, every time
Search engines index one canonical version, not several
Backlinks consolidate onto a single address instead of splitting
No way to accidentally misconfigure apex vs. www differently
One redirect rule covers every combination, permanently
The big picture
The safest setup is the one you can't get wrong
Most apex-vs-www problems aren't caused by a bad decision - they're caused by no decision ever being made, across two systems that don't talk to each other.
DNS providers, hosting platforms, and CDNs each treat apex and www as separate records by default. Unless something explicitly unifies them, it's entirely possible for both to go live pointing at different content, without anyone intending it that way.
The usual advice is to "just set up a redirect" from one to the other - which works, but leaves room for exactly the mistake it's trying to prevent: pointing them at different pages, forgetting the HTTP version, or missing one of the four combinations.
Redirect Supply removes that possibility rather than just documenting around it. Apex and www are merged by design (along with HTTP and HTTPS) so there's no configuration path that ends with your domain split across multiple addresses.
FAQs
Everything you might ask about apex and www redirects
Can I redirect apex and www to different pages?
No - Redirect Supply merges them by design, so every version of your domain always resolves to the same destination.
Which should I choose as canonical, apex or www?
Either works for SEO - what matters is picking one and staying consistent across your site, links, and marketing.
Does this also handle HTTP to HTTPS?
Yes - HTTP requests upgrade to HTTPS automatically, on every version of the domain.
Will this affect subdomains other than www?
No - this specifically merges the apex and www versions; other subdomains are configured separately.
What if www and apex already point at different content?
Connecting both to Redirect Supply consolidates them going forward - plan for a short transition as search engines recrawl.
Do I still need canonical tags on my pages?
Yes - canonical tags and this redirect reinforce the same signal to search engines together.
Have more questions?
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