Are .html pages better for ranking than .asp pages

[DavidS-282061]

It seems that .html pages do better for the long tail...

[DavidKauzlaric]

There is no difference. ASP is just a web programming language that can output HTML code the same way a straight HTML page is HTML or PHP can output HTML. No difference.

If you mean having the actual extension in your URL, there is no difference.

[DavidS-282061]

Thanks,  So the search engines do not value one extension over the other...? I thought they might prefer html a little because has all that static code...

[Tom-Anthony]

Good thinking, but actually HTML pages are not necessarily static, so I agree with David that it shouldn't make any difference.

[DavidKauzlaric]

The actual extensions don't matter. In fact, you should be using mod_rewrite to remove extensions on all your pages! All it does is add clutter and unnecessary junk to your URL strings. HTML is HTML, it doesn't matter if it's static, created using PHP, or created using ASP!

[RyanOD]

David's response is accurate. However, you can always rewrite the .aspx URL on the server and serve .html (or whatever). The server will see .aspx, but the visitor will see .html.

Working with ASP

I work strictly with PHP on Linux servers so I'm going to point you to a site that offers a tutorial I can't really vouch for. Head here for a tutorial detailing how to set up .asp to .html rewrites.

Working with PHP

On a Linux box, you can insert the following code into your .htaccess file to set up URL rewriting. I know the question wasn't about PHP and Linux. I'm just including this for others who might find it useful.

RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^(.*).html$ $1.php [L]

If you're interested in further information, here is a resource to help you learn more about working with .htaccess files.

[Getz.pro]

SEs use to devalue for dynamic content, but not anymore. .html might be better for the end user, but that is a small consideration.

[AlanMosley]

I'm not sure they dont matter, i would think that .pdf, .doc and. xps for example would be less usefull than a htm, asp, aspx.
but David is correct, you are better of not haveing a file name.

I develop using Microsoft Asp.MVC, there are no file names in MVC
i believe seomoz is also written in MVC, cant remeber what tipped me off to that maybe some one from SEOMoz can confirm

MVC also leaves very clean code, no postbacks or viewstate to clog up the code