: Should I worry about redirecting index.php to root or not? I've read in a forum two users saying that Google identifies index.php and the site's root as a single page, that redirecting index.php

@Angela700

...Google identifies index.php and the site's root as a single page


These two things can totally be different.


...that redirecting index.php to root is not something we should worry about.


I'd personally worry about it because:


index.php is not a friendly URL especially if it has a query string attached to it.
not having a friendly URL could entice hackers in trying to manipulate your site by playing around with parameters and such.


At least if I redirect index.php to root or any other friendly URL page, then I'm effectively masking out ideas for the hacker.


I wonder if leaving things as they are (Without redirecting) is bad for SEO.


You can get a better rank if your URL contains keywords that are part of your webpage (which is why I'd suggest friendly URLs). Also, if accessing example.com/index.php and example.com result in the exact same page, then redirecting example.com/index.php to example.com will make your rankings better because you just indicated to google and search engines which of the two copies of content you'd rather display to the user.

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@Sims2060225

I have client who earns pagerank 2 with the same issue as yours. I redirected index.php as default home page into (even) folder /id/. However, I include canonical as an exact information for google to see ...


"where my home address is actually"


That means that what google needs is our final decision in related to this. As long as we include meta canonical and other site authority, This would never be a significant problem.

See also: moz

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