google search console doubt

Understanding Domain Configuration and Search Console Setup for Optimal SEO Performance

Launching a new website involves various technical configurations, especially concerning domain management and search engine optimization (SEO). A common scenario developers encounter is deciding how to properly set up and verify their domains within Google Search Console (GSC), particularly when their domain usage varies across different platforms and configurations. In this article, we’ll explore the key considerations involved in managing domain and subdomain setups, with a focus on ensuring your website is optimized for search engines.

The Scenario: Domain versus www Subdomain

Suppose you’ve registered your domain (e.g., domain.com) through a provider like Porkbun and are hosting your website deployment on Vercel. In your case, your site is primarily configured with the www.domain.com subdomain, and all internal links, metadata, and sitemap files reflect this www. prefix.

Since you’ve added the domain.com variant to Google Search Console, but your site predominantly uses www.domain.com, questions naturally arise: Should you keep both versions in GSC, or is it better to focus solely on the preferred www. subdomain?

Key Considerations for Domain and GSC Configuration

1. Choosing a Preferred Domain (Canonicalization)

It is vital to establish a preferred or canonical domain—either with or without the www.. Search engines tend to treat domain.com and www.domain.com as separate entities unless canonicalization is properly configured.

2. Redirection Strategy

Your current setup, where domain.com redirects to www.domain.com via Vercel, is an effective way to consolidate authority and avoid duplicate content issues. This setup ensures visitors and crawlers are directed to a single URL version, simplifying SEO efforts.

3. Google Search Console Setup

In Google Search Console, it’s recommended to verify the exact domain version you intend to promote in search results:

• If you prefer to have www.domain.com as the canonical domain, verify and add only www.domain.com in GSC.
• Next, implement proper redirects from domain.com to www.domain.com to signal to Google that www. is the preferred version.
• Avoid adding both versions separately unless you have specific reasons, such as separate content or different target audiences.

4. Handling Authentication and Metadata

Since your Next.js 15 application incorporates metadata, JSON-LD structured