Correct linking to the /index of a site and subfolders: what's the best practice? link to: domain.com/ or domain.com/index.html ?

[inlinear]

Dear all,

starting with my .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.inlinear.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://inlinear.com/$1 [R=301,L]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^./index.html 
RewriteRule ^(.)index.html$ http://inlinear.com/ [R=301,L]

1. I redirect all URL-requests with www. to the non www-version...
2. all requests with "index.html" will be redirected to "domain.com/"

My questions are:

A) When linking from a page to my frontpage (home) the best practice is?: "http://domain.com/" the best and NOT: "http://domain.com/index.php"

B) When linking to the index of a subfolder "http://domain.com/products/index.php" I should link also to: "http://domain.com/products/" and not put also the index.php..., right?

C) When I define the canonical ULR, should I also define it just: "http://domain.com/products/" or in this case I should link to the definite file: "http://domain.com/products**/index.php**"

Is A) B) the best practice? and C) ?

Thanks for all replies!
Holger

[CleverPhD]

I think you have it correct there.  I always like to end in a slash for index pages

http://inlinear.com/ - this is your home index page

http://inlinear.com/products/ - this is your index page for the /products/ folder/group

http://inlinear.com/products/page.php - this is a page within the /products/folder/group.

Hardly anyone ever sets up index web pages like index.php or index.htm anymore, they are really not needed as they just make the URL longer. End in the slash and make sure that you are consistent with ending with that slash (vs dropping it off) when you link to your index pages.

You would need to test the script you mention that rewrites the URL.  It looks like it is making sure that the index page ends in a slash, but I could be wrong.

Side story -  I have had a CMS that uses  http://inlinear.com/products as the index page for  http://inlinear.com/products/ and this creates all kinds of issues

1. Most people are used to not having an index page and the URL simply ending in a slash.  So even if you had a non slashed version as your index page, people would link to the slash and then you have to setup 301s to fix that.  Otherwise you end up with all kinds of duplicate page issues.

2. I know Google Analytics looks at the slashes to group your content into reports.

So the example index page of  http://inlinear.com/products

would NOT be included in reports with all the pages in the /products/ group

e.g. http://inlinear.com/products/page.php

http://inlinear.com/products/anotherpage.php

as /products is not "within" /products/  You then have a report on /products/ that leaves out the index page and this is normally your most important page!

Good luck!

[inlinear]

Thank you, but in practice how does it work without file-extension?

As I understood its fine if I put the following link to link on my homepage-index:

http://inlinear.com/     <--- without anything...

As well when I link to the products page:

http://inlinear.com/products/ <--- again without anything (index.php)

But in case of a specific page for example in the products-folder:

http://inlinear.com/products/my-product-1.php     <--- how can I live without extension?

I googled and found this .htaccess code. Seems it takes away .php and ads a "/"... is this the best practice?:

Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews

Turn mod_rewrite on

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

Adding a trailing slash

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/$
RewriteRule . %{REQUEST_URI}/ [L,R=301]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
RewriteRule ^(.*?)/?$ /$1.php [L]

Is this what you mean?

[rhutchings]

Best practice for all three cases is to never use the file extensions.  You should never link to the file extension names, and make sure in your htaccess file that you dont use the file extensions for any reason moving forward.  Why?

1. Lets say you decide to re-do your site and it goes from PHP to another language like ASP or something.  You would have to redirect your entire site with file extensions and would shoot yourself in the foot with SEO, traffic and anything else.  By not using file extensions, you give yourself the flexibility down the road and you can maintain a constant url structure.

2. Indexing may or may not use the file extensions depending on your htaccess/server settings.  You would then essentially be running into duplicate content pages and issues, and thereby negatively affecting your site.  Plus, it will dilute your individual page authority.

As a side note, just be consistent with your internal linking.  Whether you use relative links or not - some discussion can be had around that.  But pick a route and go with it, just as long as you dont use the file extensions