> ## Knowledge Base Index
> Fetch the complete knowledge base index at: https://help.banana.tech/sitemap.xml
> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
> Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash).

# Domains and URL format

### Understand how the root domain, the `www` version, and trailing slashes should work together.

A website can often be reached through more than one version of the same domain. For example, visitors may use the root domain or the `www` version. Both can work, but the site should have one preferred version to keep URLs consistent.


## Root domain and `www`

The root domain is the domain without `www`, for example:

```
yourdomain.com
```

The `www` version is a subdomain, for example:

```
www.yourdomain.com
```

In most cases, both versions should load the website, but one should be treated as the main version and the other should redirect to it.


## Choose one preferred version

Choose whether the public website should use the root domain or the `www` version as the preferred version.

Keeping one preferred version helps avoid duplicated URLs and makes SEO, analytics, tracking, cookies, and redirects easier to manage.

For example, if the preferred version is:

```
www.yourdomain.com
```

Then:

```
yourdomain.com
```

should redirect to:

```
www.yourdomain.com
```


## DNS records may be different

The root domain and the `www` version may use different DNS record types. Many DNS providers do not allow the root domain to point to a `CNAME`, so the root domain may need to point to an IP address. The `www` version can usually point to a `CNAME`. This is normal. The root domain and the `www` version do not always need to resolve in the same way.


## Trailing slashes

A URL can also be written with or without a trailing slash.

For example:

```
www.yourdomain.com/rooms
```

and:

```
www.yourdomain.com/rooms/
```

can be treated as two different URLs if they are not normalized.


## Choose one URL format

From the site variables, you can define whether URLs should use a trailing slash. Choose one format and keep it consistent across menus, internal links, redirects, sitemap files, and campaign URLs.


|| The important thing is not whether the site uses `www` or a trailing slash. The important thing is to choose one version and keep it consistent.