SEO glossary · I

Index Page

What is an Index Page? Definition and Meaning

An index page is the default page a web server shows when someone visits a domain or folder without naming a file, usually a file called index.html or index.php. On most websites, the index page of the main folder is the home page. Index page meaning: the file a web server shows by default for a folder, most often named index.html or index.php. By definition it is the page you land on when you type a domain without a file name, which is why a website’s index page is usually its home page.

Index page vs indexed page

The two are easy to mix up. An indexed page is any page that a search engine has stored in its index and can show in search results. Your index page is normally indexed, but so are all your other public pages. You can see which pages Google has indexed in the Pages report of Google Search Console.

SEO tips for index pages

  • Use one version of the home page: example.com/ and example.com/index.html should not both work as separate pages. Redirect or canonicalize one to the other.
  • Link to your home page as “/” rather than “/index.html”.
  • Folders without an index page may list their files to anyone; turn off directory listing on the server.

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