should I rename index.html to the name of my site?

renmaing index.html to the name of my site

[amythepoet]

Hi,

I've been doing lots of work on my site and want to know if I should rename index.html to the name of my site on every single page of my site

I ask this because I see googlebot has visited my site and has picked up index.html.

I think I need to go in and redirect index.html to the name of my site

is that correct?

[peco]

I think you may need to rephrase the question.

You need to keep index.html as that is the page the server looks for when someone types your domain url.

[Span]

Yes, only link to your homepage with a "/" or use an absolute URI like "http://www.example.com/". Never link to index.file as example.com/ and example.com/index.html may be seen as two different pages.

[amythepoet]

Dear Span,

Yes, I have linked all the pages to the n ame of my site with the / at the end, so that part is fine.

It's just that the first page, I have used index.html and I think that is where google is picking it up from.

So should I rename index.html on the home page as well?

[Span]

No, amythepoet, don't change index.html into something else.

Although it is possible to change the filename or the extension of your default index file, it can't be done without telling your server which default file to look for by making some changes in the server's configuration. You don't want to do that and there really is no need for it.

As long as you link to your homepage with a "/" or with "http://www.example.com/" no bot or human will ever see the filename of your homepage. Google may have picked it up in the past when you were linking to it, but after making the above changes your "index.html" will slowly disappear from your site's URL in the search results.

Just make sure there are no links to your homepage with "index.html" in it. Don't change the name of it.

[amythepoet]

Ok, I understand, thanks.