Keyword in URL - is directory name different from page name?

[peterinwa]

Will a Google search find a keyword in:

domain.com/keyword/ aka domain.com/keyword/index.html

any better or worse than in:

domain.com/keyword.html

Thanks,

Peter

[goodroi]

IMHO you'll get about the same benefit which is to say you will get very little ranking boost from either solution.

Many, many years ago Google was not as sophisticated and complex. Having the keyword in the url string helped give a strong boost to rankings. For the last few years Google has been using more signals to determine rankings. IMHO the importance of having the keyword in the url string has greatly decreased.

I think the bigger reason to have the keyword in the url string is for users to see it in the url when it is displayed in the serps.

Feel free to test it. Put up two brand new pages with the two different url structures and see which one ranks better.

[peterinwa]

I think I'll just go with the latter example.

I have had extremely good luck with keywords in the domain name itself lately, such as keyword1keyword2.com, but that's annecdotal evidence as the keywords were also in the title, description, and on the homepage.

Thanks so much,

Peter

[g1smd]

Never link to page URLs with "index" in them. Link to the slash-ended folder URL instead.

URLs for pages do not need extensions. Consider going extensionless. There are many advantages, especially the simplicity of coding once you start using URL rewrites.

[peterinwa]

g1smd,

I never link to an index.html, but from it I would link to sitemap.html and contacts.html

Are you saying that if you have 10 sub pages to an index page they should all be in subfolders?

like sitemap.html should be /sitemap/
and contacts.html should be /contacts/

Peter

[g1smd]

No. For extensionless use:

www.example.com/sitemap
www.example.com/contact

and so on.

If you have multiple pages within a folder, the URL for the folder index is:

www.example.com/folder/

here.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

IMHO the importance of having the keyword in the url string has greatly decreased.

I am not so sure that this applies in lower volume searches. When I Google less desirable terms I often see keywords in the domain name and the URL string.

I quickly tried to find examples of this and I think a Google search for "leather gloves" illustrates what I am trying to say. ;o)

[google.co.uk...]

[chalkywhite]

I rate the title string higher for keywords than the URL