nonwww

Nonwww, also known as a naked or apex domain, refers to accessing a website using its top-level domain without the www subdomain, such as example.com instead of www.example.com. In practice, websites often serve both variants and use redirects to designate a single canonical host for branding, user experience, and search engine optimization.

DNS and hosting considerations are central to nonwww configuration. The zone apex cannot host a CNAME record if other records exist, so many DNS providers offer ALIAS or ANAME records to map the apex to another host name. Alternatively, A or AAAA records point the apex directly to IP addresses. If the site needs to support both apex and www, an HTTP redirect (commonly 301) from one variant to the other is typically implemented, often at the edge via a CDN or load balancer.

TLS/SSL implications are important for secure access. Certificates must cover the variants you serve over HTTPS. This usually means using a multi-domain certificate or a SAN (Subject Alternative Name) certificate that includes both example.com and www.example.com, or a certificate designed to cover the apex domain.

SEO and analytics considerations include canonicalization and avoiding duplicate content. Search engines treat www and nonwww as distinct sites unless you consolidate them. Tools like Google Search Console can be used to set a preferred domain, and internal linking, sitemaps, and canonical tags should consistently reference the canonical version.

Security and policy: HSTS should be deployed on the canonical domain to enforce HTTPS. Cookies set on the apex domain may be shared with subdomains if configured for the root domain.

Overall, choosing between nonwww and www depends on branding, technical constraints, and a site's redirect and certificate strategy.