A website’s rankings are affected by various elements of technical SEO including its speed, responsiveness on mobile devices, and more.

One such is DNS configurations like CNAME records, which provide easy user navigation and accessibility.

CNAME records are an important element as they ensure that there are no errors when the user is visiting the website. By precisely redirecting domains, CNAME ensures a seamless user experience, which influences SEO ranking even though it has no direct impact on SEO performance.

Let us find out what a CNAME is and how it affects SEO performance, along with some best practices when using CNAME records.

What is a CNAME?

A CNAME, a type of DNS record, is an alias name or nickname for another domain name.

When you enter a web URL in the search bar, the DNS server searches for the domain name linked to that address.

If it comes across a CNAME, it then conducts a series of lookups to determine the main domain.

For example, if you have different sections for a website, like a blog.example.com on a different server like WordPress or Medium and a store.example.com section on servers like Shopify, you can use a CNAME record to link them to your main website to send your customers to the specific website.

Also Read – A Beginner’s Guide to Renewing Domain

Impact of CNAME On Website’s SEO

Now that we know what a CNAME is, let’s look at how it affects the website’s SEO rankings and performance.

Domain Authority

One crucial component of SEO that demonstrates the reliability of your website is domain authority (DA). Thus, to ensure strong SEO performance, it is essential to maintain a high domain authority.

When you use a CNAME that has a lower DA than your website, it will dilute the domain authority. Therefore, always use the CNAME with a similar level of DA.

Website Speed

When you use CNAME records, the DNS server has to perform lookups until the main domain is found. This might lead to increased website loading time, which may negatively affect the website ranking.

To reduce the latency, make sure that the CNAME configuration is optimised and that you choose a reliable DNS provider to mitigate the impacts of CNAME on the speed.

Mobile Optimisation

The number of audiences accessing the web through mobile phones is increasing. As per a report, approximately 60% of the traffic a website gets comes from a mobile device. Therefore, it is important to mobile-specific CNAME configurations.

This delivers optimised content to the users, ensuring a seamless experience, which can positively impact the overall ranking.

Duplicate Content

When search engines detect duplicate content, they penalise the website, which greatly impacts the SEO rankings.

You must implement proper canonicalisation techniques to ensure that the search engines can understand the preferred domain and not penalise for duplicate content.

SSL Certificates

SSL certificates ensure a secure connection between the web browser and the web server and authenticate the identity of a website.

The SSL certificates must be configured for both the original and CNAME domains. This ensures website security and user trust, which positively impacts the SEO ranking.

Also Read – How to Install an SSL Certificate? A Simplified Guide

Canonicalisation Technique

Canonicalisation is the process of selecting the preferred version of the URL when there are multiple domains. If CNAME is not configured properly, it can lead to confusion about the main domain, which potentially affects the SEO results.

Backlinks

Backlinks are a significant part of SEO efforts as they impact the authority and relevance of the website. When you are using CNAME, it must be redirected to the main domain to maintain link equity.

Incorrect configurations may lead to broken backlinks, which affects the credibility of the website, negatively impacting the SEO ranking.

Also Read – What are Backlinks? Why are they Crucial for SEO? 

Crawling and Indexing

The search engines crawl your website to look for relevant content. If there are errors in the server responses during the transition process of CNAME, the page indexing may be hindered.

Make sure your website responds to the crawling requests when there is a migration due to the CNAME changes.

Best Practices for CNAME Migration

To ensure seamless CNAME migration without affecting the SEO ranking, here are the best practices you should follow:

  • Opt for a reputable DNS provider and DNS hosting services to reduce downtime and optimise speed.
  • Make sure that the SSL Certificates are implemented for both the main domain and the CNAME domain.
  • Monitor and audit the CNAME configurations regularly to find errors and resolve them timely.
  • Limit the use of CNAME chains it can lead to complexities that hinder the SEO performance.
  • Use DNS security measures(DNSSEC), which serve as a defensive mechanism against harmful activities, raising the overall reliability of the website.
Also Read – How to Build a Winning CRO strategy

Wrapping Up

A CNAME is a powerful tool to maintain a seamless experience for the users. Understanding CNAME and its impact on the website ranking will help you ensure proper optimisation and canonicalisation techniques. With the help of the CNAME best practices, you can make sure that the transition is seamless.

Crazy Domains provides on-demand support with expert solutions customised to the specific requirements of your website. Our experts help ensure that the CNAME records are correctly optimised for a smooth user experience. Contact us and get started with now.