Renaming index.html

[IanTurner]

Is it a good idea to rename the default page for the site from index.html to keyword.html?

[agerhart]

I think that it may be better to name the inside pages, 2nd and 3rd level, with the keywords.

I don't think that it is good practice to rename the index page with the keywords.

It is my gut feeling, and partial memory, that the SE's don't react well to this.

Anyone have a battling opinion?

[ggrot]

I agree with agerhart. If you change the index page, by using some htaccess mods or whatnot, all you change is which file shows up when no specific file is requested. For example if your index page was domain.com/keyword.htm, when domain.com/ was requested, keyword.htm would be returned. The important thing to note is that only the content of keyword.htm is returned, not the file name - so when requesting domain.com/, there is no difference in the way you name your file. On the other hand, search engines expect index.* to be what is intended for. If the spider looks for it specifically, it might get a 404 error or if the spider runs across your keyword.htm file, not realizing that this is your index page, it may think you are presenting duplicate content and thats always a no-no.

[drbill]

I would ahev to agree with agerhart, But becareful with the renaming of pages on the 2nd and 3rd level... Name them just with on keyword not keyword-keyword as I have been kicked down for some of that.. Mybe I was just unlucky.. not sure

[Ove]

<Name them just with on keyword not keyword-keyword as I have been kicked down for some of that.. Mybe I was just unlucky.. not sure>

It happens to me to but after some time top listings for that

/Ove

[IanTurner]

I have one test site where I have been trying this out and as yet I have seen nothing positive or negative from changing index.html

Results seemed to be the same for both Google and Fast.

My thoughts were along the following lines as I had submitted the domain (per se www.mydomain.com) to the engines, then they saw nothing different between www.domain.com/index.html and www.domain.com/keyword.html (maybe if I submit www.domain.com/keyword.html I may get a change in results)

Anyway I will continue experimenting and will let you know the results.

[bufferzone]

Why not make hallway pages named after keywords and then arrange the internal linkstructure ordered by keywords. This way, you can place thekeyword.htm's in the rootlevel of your site and make it easy for the users to navigate your site according to their keyword of interest

[Ove]

<It happens to me to but after some time top listings for that>

I missunderstood that i replaced the index with another
Sorry

/Ove

[IanTurner]

The thinking behind the idea is that the most important page in your site is the default page, and getting that extra keyword into the default page URL may give a bost in its rankings.

[agerhart]

This may work for a doorway page, or a page that is 2nd, 3rd, etc level, but like Ggrot said, this will not work for the SE's

[volatilegx]

IanTurner,

The problem with your idea is that the SE has no idea what the filename of the default page is unless you submit the full URL including the filename... and if you do that, you aren't referring to it as the default page, so there's no point in changing the default page to something besides index.htm or index.html. Remember, you can always submit [yourdomain.com...] even if it isn't your default.