Client: Writingbay (via Fiverr)
Service Date: December 2022
Service Type: Canonical URL Fix (via .htaccess)
Role: Technical SEO & Redirect Code Setup
Website: expertwritinghelp.com
Project Summary
Writingbay was facing indexing issues caused by URL variations. Their site opened with both http and https, and with both www and non-www formats. This caused search engines to treat the same page as different URLs. I was hired to fix the problem with a proper redirection setup.
The client wanted a reliable solution placed directly in their cPanel’s .htaccess file.
What I Did
I first checked all URL versions of the website. I found that pages were opening under four different forms. This created duplicate versions in search engines.
I accessed the .htaccess file using cPanel. I then wrote clean, valid code to:
- Redirect http to https
- Redirect www to non-www
I made sure the redirects were 301 (permanent), so search engines would pass link value to the correct version. I tested the code to confirm all versions of the site pointed to one consistent format.
Results
After the update, all traffic and crawlers were sent to one preferred URL format. Duplicate indexing issues were resolved. The site’s main version began to appear more clearly in search results. Page authority was no longer split between multiple URLs.
Final Note
Proper redirection in the .htaccess file is a key part of technical SEO. It helps search engines understand the preferred version of a site. This small fix gave Writingbay better index control and improved SEO trust.