How to Get WWW to Appear Before a Domain on GoDaddy

Add www to your Go Daddy hosted site.

Countless website owners set up their websites so that visitors will reach the same destination whether the visitor uses a www before the domain name or not. Many people believe that it is an automatic event. The www followed by a dot and before a site name designates a subdomain of the actual domain. Some sites do not use the www at all and visitors receive an error message. A few use the www subdomain to lead visitors to a different destination.

Things You'll Need

• Go Daddy hosting account

Instructions

1. Log in to your GoDaddy account. Click on "My Account" from the top menu to reach the Account Manager page.

2. Choose "My Products" from the left-hand menu to see the Domain Manager selection. Click "Domain Manage" to display the Domains page.

3. Scroll your mouse over the "Tools" tab from the menu at the top of the page and select "DNS Manager."

4. Click "Edit Zone" for the domain name you want to work on in the Zone Editor.

5. In the Canonical Name or CNAME (Alias) section, click the www record.

6. In the "Points to" area, type the @ symbol to map the www alias directly to your domain name.

7. Click "Save Zone File," and then click "OK."

Tips & Warnings

• DNS changes take up to 48 hours for servers around the Internet to include your new information.

• CNAME works only to point domain names or host names. Use domain forwarding for specific files or subdirectories.

References

• Go Daddy; What is the WWW Before My Domain Name
• PCMAG.com; Definition of CNAME Record
• Go Daddy; Understanding the DNS Manager

Resources

• Go Daddy.com