Do you have panic attacks just thinking about landing on a malicious website? Are you worried that you’re going to fall prey to a seemingly innocuous website that is parading as a website that you know and love? Well, those are legitimate fears within the world of today, however not all online threats are created equal. Today we will be breaking down the phenomenon of what is www2 and how it relates to the grand old www. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you should feel 5% safer while navigating the world wide web.
What Is WWW In URL?
The www is a remnant of previous conventions whereby it would serve as a mechanism to indicate that you wanted to access the server upon which the website was stored. However, this is no longer an essential requirement as websites have become the most populous form of data on the web. An example of an alternative prefix is mail.example.com which would transfer to you to the desired mailbox on another server.
What Is WWW2?
Although www2 does seem a bit off, it was in the past used by websites with multiple subdomains as an easy way to clarify between them. This is why you may have come across some websites with a www3 in the URL. Other potential reasons for the www2 conundrum is that the server which typically hosts the website is undergoing maintenance and therefore you have been diverted to a secondary version.
Is WWW2 safe?
Although seeing www4 would seem slightly ill-begotten while browsing the internet, it is not an exact science to state that viewing a www2 in your URL is a surefire way of stating that the website is unsafe. In reality, the chances of coming across this today is becoming smaller and smaller today as modern technology ensures that load-balancing techniques are becoming more advanced.
WWW2 Vs WWW Problem
Unfortunately, the reality is that although your site may not be malicious in intent, when a search engine, such as Google or Bing, encounters the URL link, it will not be kind to it. This is due to the numeral after the www making it appear as if your website has intentionally copy-and-pasted another website; therefore, you will suffer tremendously in Google rankings.
Henceforth, the recommended advice from IT professionals is usually to remove the previous website from the current server or simply to disable that domain. Otherwise, you will be harming your rankings on search engines, and then, the chances of garnering new visitors will be far lower.
Conclusion
Do you still feel insecure overseeing amended www’s in your URLs? No, well that’s probably because you are now all clued up on the www2 meaning. Although www2 is mostly harmless, the fact that search engines react by pushing your website further down in the results is a serious blow to your website traffic. Therefore, we cannot recommend using this naming convention today.
Frequently Asked Questions About WWW2
What is a WWW2 website?
It is still a website, named with a numeral to indicate it is either a subdomain of another site or that it is an alternative site hosted on a completely different server.
Why do some websites have WWW2?
Websites typically make use of this strategy if they are very large and prone to experiencing issues when too many users are operational at once.
Why do some sites not have WWW2?
The site may either be more modern in its release date and therefore, the creators no longer conform to previous naming conventions. Alternatively, they may simply be making use of modern load balancing technology which has mostly phased out the habit of placing a number after the www in URL.
Is WWW2 secure?
For the most part, it is unlikely that because a website has a number after the www that it is automatically an illegal site. Yet, it is always recommended to take precautions, to ensure that you have the correct domain name and that you do not download or click on anything suspicious.
