How important is having a 301 redirect?

[bronxpad]

Is having a 301 redirect a must for rankings when it comes to the www and non-www version of a site?

I am on the bottom of page 1 for my main key phrases but I can't do a 301 redirect with my web host that I've been with for over a year.

I've been considering changing web host (currently with Yahoo) but I also have concerns about transferring the site and the impact it might have because of the changing ip address.

So my options are

1. Stay Put
2. Change Web host

Which would you recommend?

[VentaMarketing]

I took a look at bronxpad.com in opensiteexloreer.org.

If this is the website you are referring to, when you implement these 301 redirects make sure you also redirect bronxpad.com/index.html and www.bronxpad.com/index.html to www.bronxpad.com, for the same reason as the non-www to the www.

[VentaMarketing]

GoDaddy would work, and in my experience, they offer great customer service.

[VentaMarketing]

If you have links pointing to both, then a 301 redirect will help your website's domain and page authority, which will help your rankings.

Any reputable US hosting company should be fine.

[bronxpad]

Any recommendations on hosting providers? I am based out of the Bronx in New York.

[bronxpad]

I have links pointing to both versions but the majority being the www version. I am based out of New York and I was wondering if hosting with a New York Web host would benefit or not.

[VentaMarketing]

The reason we 301 redirect non-www to www is to make sure search engines do not index two versions of your website. You can check it though a Google search: "site:yoursite.com"

This will give you all of the pages indexed by Google. If there is a yoursite.com and www.yoursite.com in the results, two versions are indexed, and a 301 redirect might allow you to rank even higher.

If there are two versions indexed, I would consider changing your host if  you can secure a properly located IP address. Changing your sites IP address can affect rankings due to geo-location, so make sure it is properly geo-located. Most reputable hosting companies can easily take care of this.

[Personnel_Concept]

David is right, you need to check the links made to both the non www and www version. Normally Google recommends 301 redirect because if there are some links made to your non www version then 301 redirect will pass link value (link juice) of non www version to www version (or vice versa).

If there are not much links made to your non www version, then I guess there is not much to worry and you can just keep it as it is (If its really hard to do it as it is in your case).

[David_ODonnell]

Also, in regards to changing hosts, I wouldn't worry about the IP address implications too much. As long as you move to a reputable host you should be fine.

[David_ODonnell]

The non www to www is often used to consolidate links, if you had external links pointing to both versions of your domain. Without being able to inspect your site, specifically if you have an issue with links pointing to each version of the domain, it's hard to say how much of an impact it will have. Still a best practice to put in place to avoid the issue though.