One preferred web address (www vs non-www)
A stranger who searches your name should arrive at one address. If www and the bare domain both answer as if they are different sites, the firm looks split.
What this is
A canonical address is the one URL you want people, and search engines, to treat as the real page. The other versions should redirect to it. The page can also name that preferred address in a canonical link.
The common fight is www.yourfirm.com versus yourfirm.com. Both can load the same words and still be counted as two sites. A cross-domain fight is the same problem with a second domain you used to own.
This is not a branding debate about whether www looks old. It is a choice of one front door. After you choose, every link you publish should use that door.
Why it matters for trust
When two addresses both look official, a stranger cannot tell which one is current. Bookmarks, email signatures, and Google results drift apart. Reviews and links pile up on whichever version someone happened to use.
Search tools also split attention. If they are not sure which host is preferred, they may show a weaker copy, or show both and make the firm look smaller than it is.
You do not need a new design to fix this. You need one decision and a redirect. After that, stop publishing the old address in new PDFs, proposals, and social bios. Old links can keep working because they bounce to the preferred host. New links should not create a second habit. Check the address bar after every redirect. The host you picked should be the one still showing when the page finishes loading.
Do this
- Pick one host. Write it down. Example: https://www.yourfirm.com.
- On the server or host, redirect the other host to that one. Use a permanent redirect, not a second homepage.
- Open both addresses in a browser. You should land on the same final URL.
- Set the canonical link on the home page to that final URL, including https.
- Update the address in your email signature, Google Business Profile, and the footer.
- Search the firm name later and check that the result uses the host you picked.
How Free Trust Score treats this
Free Trust Score looks at the address that actually loaded and the canonical link on the page. A matching host helps. A www versus non-www fight, or a canonical that points somewhere else, hurts.
The score does not grade your logo or your copy. It only asks whether a stranger is being sent to one preferred address.
Related
See what a stranger can already see.
Run a Free Trust Score, or book a short fit call if you want help reading it.