Change a file extension for a better search engine rank
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Should I change filename extensions to improve rankings?

Should I change filename extensions to improve rankings? - answered by Matt Cutts

Summary:

Google will typically crawl almost any filename extension so taking a URL, and taking the .php or the .html and adding a .free, or .cheap on the end is not necessary. The number of users, who saw that extension and thought that looked weird, or strange, and didn't click would, probably counteract any potential benefit. So that shouldn’t be a useful technique.

 

Matt's answer:

I wouldn’t recommend going to that lengths.

 

Google will typically crawl almost any filename extension

There’s a few like maybe .zero, or .exe, or something like that that we would definitely not recommend. But taking a URL, and taking the .php or the .html and adding a .free, or .cheap on the end is probably going a little bit too far. It’s not something that I would really recommend.

 

It’s better to look at ways to naturally work a keyword into the copy on the site

But probably, the number of users who saw that and thought that looked weird, or scuzzy, or strange, and didn’t click, would counteract any potential benefit. And I’m not sure that it would work all that well anyway. So I would go ahead and use whatever filename suffix you think is appropriate: .php, .cfm, .aspx, .html, whatever. But I wouldn’t make it .cheaponlineviagra or something along those lines. That’s probably taking it a little bit too far. Thanks.

by Matt Cutts - Google's Head of Search Quality Team

 

Original video: