Should I change .html to / ?

[bjs2010]

On my ecommerce site, we have .html extensions on all files and categories.

I was wondering if it is worth the development cost to make all of them /   ?

Is there any SEO benefit in doing so?

Thanks,

B

[Mike.Goracke]

Hi B,

If I am understanding your question correctly, there is no SEO benefit in what you are suggesting.

For instance if you are suggesting changing www.domain.com/topic.html to www.domain.com/topic that will not make any SEO difference.

The main reason for people removing the extension is that it looks cleaner/friendlier. Also, if you were to switch your platform/CMS, you would be able to continue to use the same URL if you do not use an extension.

Does that make sense?

Mike

[bjs2010]

Yes, that makes sense thank you. Although I have read on some of this forum that a forward slash helps rank better?

I also thought that by doing slashes in the URL, Google may have added those special links underneath the listing

Mybusiness > Shoes > Mens Shoes

Thank you for your help

[Mike.Goracke]

In many cases, most websites will redirect a trailing slash to the non-trailing slash version, but it all depends on your configuration. Here is some info from Google Webmaster Central on the subject.

I think what you are looking for is breadcrumb rich snippets.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[bjs2010]

Thanks again Mike...

Our URL structure I think meets Google's requirements - but there is yet no breadcrumbs appearing... does that appear depeding on domain reputation?