index.html vs index.asp

[howabout]

Hey all,

This one's stumped me... I thought that index.asp and index.html were the same thing from the point of view of browsers etc...

However, I just did a search for my new website in google etc all I get for my result and the outline is the greeting page from my webhost telling me that "If I can see this page I need to replace the index.html file"

I have an index.asp file, and my website is up and running and all is going well, but this has confused me.

I assume that as I build more links etc that my site will be refreshed and this unusual result perhaps comes from existing links to the domain (from people I dont know!) being actived in the short time between setting up the web host and uploading my site, during which time the site was indexed.

Am I right in this guess or have I done something wrong?

Um, also, is there a search function on this board? I can't see it....

[buddhu]

Hey howabout.

Search is right at the very top of the page. The very VERY top at the right hand side. See it? Dead easy to miss tucked away up there away from the menus, innit.

Not sure if I'm reading your question right... Do you mean you recently changed from index.html to index.asp? If that's the case you need to put a 301 redirect on index.html to tell engines and visitors that your homepage content has permanently moved. If you do a web search on "301 redirect IIS" or "301 redirect apache" depending on your server type youwill find loads of pages with instructions on how to implement the 301.

There are also loads of threads here about it. Forgive me not linking them... I don't have time to search just now.

[AlexDP]

As I understand it, you have just signed up with a new host (or new domain/site) and that place a standard index.html file on the server telling you to replease it.

You have instead put an index.asp file on the server as your homepage. This is fine, you just need to delete the index.html file. I guess what is happening is that when visiting www.your-domain.co.uk the robot/spider is being re-driected to www.your-domain.co.uk/index.html not the index.asp page.

Try deleting the index.html page and see what happens or contact your hosting comapany.

Alex

[fastedge]

If I'm reading your post correctly your problem does not have to do with redirects or lack of an index.htm page. It has to do with what the default landing page is on your web server for your particular site.

I.E - In IIS, there are a couple of defaults, index.html, default.html, index.asp, which are automatically used when a new site is created. That means that when you create a site and navigate to it, unless a specific page name is used (contact.htm, etc...) the server will default to the first file on the list (index.html). If not found it looks for the next on the list (default.html), and so on. Point is that if index.asp is not on that list the sever will never open to that as its default home page. Check with your web host to see if they can set index.asp as your default home page. That should take care of it.

[neonant]

I agree with fastedge. If you want to use index.asp as your default landing page then you need to make sure that the Web server is configured correctly for this.

Also, not all Web hosting is the same. If you are on a Linux server that is using Apache and ChilliSoft for ASP then you will need to modify your .htaccess file with a line as follows:

DirectoryIndex index.asp

If you are on a Windows server using IIS then they prefer the term default.asp and you may find that index.asp will need to be added manually in the appropriate tab. This is not hard to do and you can ask your hosting provider for assistance.

One last point, you can always test your page by typing in the exact page in the URL field. So instead of typing in
www.mydomain.com

type in
www.mydomain.com/index.asp

What this does is allows you to see that the page is in the right place and loads OK. All you need to do then is have your hosting provider help you change the default to this page.

[computergenius]

Originally Posted by howabout

I just did a search for my new website in google etc all I get for my result and the outline is the greeting page from my webhost telling me that "If I can see this page I need to replace the index.html file"
I have an index.asp file, and my website is up and running and all is going well, but this has confused me.

If your visitors can see the correct file (asp) then, so can the search engines.

It sounds to me as though you were googled *after* the domain had been set up (with the html), and before you uploaded your asp files.

If your index.html file is still there (but invisible to visitors), you could perhaps change it to turn it into a gateway to lead your visitors to index.asp. But I would assume that you have (correctly) deleted the html file. If so, leave it deleted.

Sounds like you will just have to wait for Google to re-visit.

[alienzhavelanded]

The answer is both solutions:

Delete the index.html

Make sure the server accepts index.asp as a default. Check with the host if you don't have the means to do this yourself, especially their support area.

[DrTandem1]

Why are you using active server pages?

[howabout]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll go through everything as I see it:

DrTandem1: I'm using active server pages because my site uses a database to store all the articles and allows me to minimise the updating. It's all done automatically once I post the articles (front page snippet, link to article, archiving...etc). Also, I'm not sure I could learn php in enough time to get my site actually out there. Is php superior in your opinion?

alienzhavelanded: index.html is deleted, did that on the first day my index.asp file was uploaded. I will check with the host re: default file settings.

computergenius: I hope your right and this will all change once the search engines visit again (ah, the patience needed to play this game!)

neonant: the full domain works with index.asp, it doesnt with index.html

buddhu: thanks for pointing out the search function.

So, I guess to conclude I'm just gonna wait this out and double check my default page settings with the host.

Thanks to everyone here. What a cool community. I'm sure to come around more often :o)