How important are File Names

How important are file names, when it comes to SERPs?? I mean, I see that Google bolds the relevant text in the file name which makes the results stand out more, but is this actually considered as a decising factor for your rankings??? I know that the domain is important ..... but what about the directory and file names?

 

im not sure if the actual filenames are a factor, but if the keywords that are searched for are in the search query they are bolded also which i think would drive more people to click on the link.

someone else probly knows more about the actual effects on the serps.

 

Yeah, I suppose the site will seem more relevant if the keywords are in the file name but would it make a difference if the web page was called:

www.domain.com/keyword.htm
or
www.domain.com/keyword/keyword.htm (Is this any better)
or
www.domain.com/blah/keyword.htm (Is this any worse than the first two??)

The point is, it is worth spending time changing the entire structure of the site only if it's going to affect the SERPs. Anybody got any idea whether this will make any difference?

 

I've heard that keyword.domain.com is a good thing, so I would imagine that the page name would also be beneficial.

 

In my personal testing, I have seen the page filename being weighted extremely heavily in Google's relevance algorithm.

I just did some very quick checks, a subdirectory (folder) name does not seem to be weighted heavily, if at all.

 

so, it would probably be worth the effort to rename some of the file names then, for better results on Google. Thanks for that!

 

I wouldn't bother renaming my old file names, but I always try to select good keywords for my files and directories as I build new sites.

 

What about this scenario : If I am targetting the keyword "Joe Bloggs" (say)

Which one of the following would be better?
www.joe.com/joe_bloggs.htm
or
www.joe.com/joe_bloggs_website_site_map/joe_bloggs

 

My understanding is that the directory name is not that important--someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I've also read that your results will be better using hyphens rather than underscores:
e.g. www.joe.com/joe-bloggs.html

 

That looks kind of strange to me, because I read many times that it would be better if you have the files directly after the domain name (i.e. domain.com/xyz.html instead of domain.com/xyz/xyz.html), but I wouldn't doubt what the SEO pros are doing...

 

Hmmmm. I wonder if Google checks the URL for keyword density?? If it does, then domain.com/xyz/xyz.htm would be better than domain.com/xyz.htm, right? Anyway, I am changing the file structure slightly ...... moving to domain.com/xyz.htm format ..... will keep you updated on how that goes.

 

Hi dfsweb,
I know that this is not an answer to your exact question, but relevant all the same. I would recommend using hyphens instead of underscores. There is no evidence that indicates that hyphens are worse, but some evidence does indicate that they are better.
Ajeet

 

it's only since the last redesign that Google started to bold the search terms into the domain name and url. Do you know, did this change also mean a background change? I mean together with this new frontend bolding strategy, did Google started to give more importance to domain names/filenames?

 

Re Ajeet: a proper url building / filenaming guide from a SEO perspective would be very interesting. Can you elaborate more on the hyphens vs. underscores issue?

 

I read a German SEO board on a regular basis and most people there are sure that hyphens are better than underscores.
Somebody even started a small study about that topic, but everything is in German so I don't know if it would be helpful or not.

To your other question:
In my opinion, the relevance of the keyword in the url or the file names is not as high as it was a few months ago.
I don't think Google weighs it that much anymore, if at all.

 

Is it the file name that is important? or the URL?

I have dynamic pages and Masked URLs where the file name either does not show, or is always fixed - it is the path to the file that changes. ie url/keyword/anotherword/ or url/keyword/anotherword/index.php and not url/keyword.htm

 

The file name and the directory name are important and are better as a hyhen than an underscore.

I have done extensive testing on this matter having started long ago with hyhens in the domain name and progressed to hyphens first in the page/file name and then about three years ago into the directory. Recently, when Google started hiliting the keywords, I tested the underscore side by side with the hyphen and in each case there was a tendency to better placement for the hyphen. [This is done by taking noncompetitive keyword categories and making two pages for different two word keyword phrases and testing side by side]

With respect to the xyz.domainname.com or www.domainname.com/xyz/ you run into the real problem eg testing for site: or link:

www.digitalpoint.com
digitalpoint.com
forums.digitalpoint.com

of it being lost opportunities.


With respect to the importance...why do you think Google checks out allinurl? [and for that matter allintext, allinanchor!]

You are going to leave it out? [or the others].....

I don't think so [the number of sites that do is mindboggling] ....why should you?

Just today I went to look at the Google listing of one index page with hyphenated domain name being xxx xxxxxx.

Title is listed as the main google listing [XXX XXXXXX] then the first text as HI [xxx xxxxxx] which is a repeat of the title....then none of the nav but it jumped directly into the Content half way down the page but picked out the alt tag on the picture xxx xxxxxx yyyyyyy and then the text following xxx xxxxxx

Now if that doesn't tell you something about the way Google operates nothing will - Google totally ignored the text [144 characters] following the H1 tag jumped the nav and then went on with the content/text.

[The 144 characters were inserted as an experiment and I have dropped 7 places - they have been removed today - I expect the page to move back up again]

So it would be an error to assume that they are not important

 

Google treats hyphens as spaces. Google does not treat underscores as spaces.

Because of this, the string "search_engine" will not show up in a search for "search engine", but the string "search-engine" will show up in that search.

The end result is that hyphens are much better, from an SEO perspective, than underscores.

This rule seems to hold true for use in text, in file names, and in domain names.

You can examine this theory in practice at:

Do search engines treat hyphens as spaces? and Do search engines treat underscores as spaces?

 

very good experiments on your site Will, good info.

-Dan