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Redirecting from WWW to Non-WWW

In this guide, you will learn how to implement SEO-friendly 301 permanent redirect from www subdomain to main domain (non-www) on the Apache web server running on CentOS 7.

This redirect improves user experience and increases SEO performance by informing search engines that there is a single canonical address.

What Will You Learn in This Guide?​

  • How to configure DNS records for www and non-www
  • Create a simple 301 redirect with Apache mod_alias
  • How to separate the VirtualHost structure correctly
  • Testing routing with curl
  • Why this method is correct in terms of SEO

1. Configuring DNS Records​

First of all, both example.com and www.example.com addresses need to reach your Apache server.

✔ Required DNS A records​

HostnameGenreTarget
@AServer IP address
wwwAServer IP address

Thanks to these two records, all requests will reach your Apache server.

2. Configuring 301 Redirect in Apache​

We will do the redirection with the mod_alias module.
This method is simple, fast and SEO friendly.

Check that the 2.1 mod_alias module is active​

httpd -M | grep alias_module

This command shows whether the module is active or not.

If the module is not visible, enable it:

echo "LoadModule alias_module modules/mod_alias.so" | sudo tee -a /etc/httpd/conf.modules.d/00-base.conf

2.2 Remove www alias from main VirtualHost​

Open the main site configuration file:

sudo vi /etc/httpd/conf.d/ornek.com.conf

If the file contains the following line, remove it:

ServerAlias www.ornek.com

Because now www requests will be managed by a separate VirtualHost.

2.3 Creating 301 redirects with new VirtualHost​

Create a new configuration file:

sudo vi /etc/httpd/conf.d/www.ornek.com.conf

Contents of the file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName www.ornek.com
    Redirect permanent / http://ornek.com/
</VirtualHost>

This configuration directs all requests coming to the www domain to the main domain.

2.4 Check configuration and restart Apache:​

sudo apachectl configtest

Expected output:

Syntax OK

Then restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart httpd

3. Testing Routing:​

curl -IL http://www.ornek.com

Meaning of parameters:

-I → only shows HTTP headers -L → follows redirects

Expected output:

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: http://ornek.com/

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

When you type www.ornek.com into the browser, it automatically appears in the address bar:

ornek.com

If you see it, the redirect is working successfully.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)​

Why are 301 redirects important?

It tells search engines that your site has a single canonical address. SEO authority is indivisible.

Should you use mod_alias> or >mod_rewrite>?

For simple redirects, mod_alias is faster and more readable. For complex redirects, mod_rewrite is preferred.

Is redirection still necessary if I use HTTPS?

Yes. Separate VirtualHost redirects must be made for HTTP and HTTPS.

What does Redirect permanent do?

It performs a permanent (301) redirect by preserving the path of the incoming request.

Example:

www.site.com/blog>

leads to:

site.com/blog>

Why do we use http:// in the redirect line?

Apache requests the full URL in the Redirect directive. If no protocol is specified, routing may not work properly.

Result​

In this guide, you learned how to configure www → non-www 301 redirect with Apache on CentOS 7.

This setting:

Improves SEO performance Improves user experience Brings your site to a single canonical address

You can safely implement these operations in the GenixNode infrastructure and easily scale your projects.