Index.htm or default.htm

google picking up both

[Left_Field]

When I update my home page I use default.htm then upload. I have index.htm on the server but never use it. It was last updated by me about 12 months ago. When I go to my site .com.au my default.htm comes up (PR5).
When I type in the browser and bring up my ..../index.htm it is showing a PR5 and my ...../default.htm is showing PR0. The cache on the .../index.htm then shows the current /default.htm. not the /index.htm
This could be causing a PR split along with other problems. Should I place a noindex nofollow in the index.htm page so google is tracking the correct home page. Any advice would be appreciated.

[MHes]

Hi

This may be an obvious question but are your internal pages linking to ../index.htm? Also is anybody else linking to the index.htm?

If the server is happy to show index.htm when you just type in .com.au/ (when you delete 'default.htm) and there are no links, internal or external to /default.htm then I would delete the file and run with the higher /index.htm page, having updated it.

It appears Google may be having a problem, although you can never trust the toolbar completely. If all links to the home page (internal & external) are just .com.au/ then I would not hesitate in dumping the default.htm. However, if internal pages link to 'default.htm' I would delete index.htm. Eitherway, having a 'noindex nofollow' on your highest pr home page is probably not a good idea. Two home pages could haunt you in the future, with people linking to the wrong one.

If the site is new or low traffic, I would bite the bullit and delete one of the home pages but if the site is a big money earner perhaps an email to google may just get a response? I'm a bit out of my depth on this one so take more advice!

[Patrick Taylor]

For the long term, biting the bullet would be to force site.com.au/ as the correct home page URL by linking internally to that URL (and arranging the same with external links). That way you can use default.htm or index.htm as the actual home page file - it won't matter - but I would be inclined to delete one or the other.

I believe Google sees site.com.au/, site.com.au/index.htm, and site.com.au/default.htm (not to mention www and non-www versions) as separate URLs, so they need to be resolved into one - it may time some time.

I'm no expert on mod_rewrite but if you are on Apache it may be that you can use it to hasten the process.

[Left_Field]

Thanks for your comments. All internal pages and back links are going to .com.au only.
My site is 6 years old and both index and default have been there the whole time. I was a PR6 until last update. My index.htm page is old and is very different to default.htm as it has not been updated as I said before. Typing in .../index.htm brings up the outdated page as it should, has PR5, but when you look at the cache of index.htm it shows the updated .../default.htm page, this is my home page which is what comes up under .....com.au.
I not sure what would happen if you delete default.htm and let index.htm stand alone.

[steveb]

I can't imagine why you have both. Just get rid of one.

[megrisoft]

Try to use mod-rewrite to make all to One URL your PR will increase

[vincevincevince]

When you look at default.htm the page rank reflects default.htm - a page which has no links to it, giving PR0, which makes perfect sense to me.

When you look at index.htm, Google also realises it doesn't know this page, and that it has no links. However, index.XXX is THE MOST COMMON way to name the file which is served when you hit the domain root. Google enterprisingly substitutes the ranking of the main domain for that of index.XXX.

If you don't believe, me have a look at index.asp or index.php - the Page Rank will match that of your main domain - whether the page even exists or not.

I know this because of the gaping hole in the URL removal tool which allowed someone to remove a url 'index.php' on a site which used 'index.html' (for example) - and Google would test index.php, find it not there, and then proceed to assume that the main domain name was the same as index.php and delete the main domain name. Ooops.

[Left_Field]

The reason for having both was when the site was built 6 years ago it was a framed site. I rebuilt it 4 years ago without frames and left both index and default in.
I have decided index.htm will go and leave default.htm in.
Can someone advise a smooth transision or do I just delete this page from the server so it brings up a 404. Im on a windows 2003 server not apache.
Thank you.