Is Home Page classifies whether the ranking result’s URL looks like a bare site root — a hostname with nothing after it. It returns 1 when the URL is a plain root and 0 otherwise. This is a URL-shape heuristic, not a measure of homepage quality, and a value of 1 does not mean the page deserves the query.
| Factor ID | RG-STR-003 |
|---|---|
| Family | Page structure |
| Measurement | Boolean classification (0 / 1) |
| Measured zone | Search-result URL |
What it measures
Is Home Page classifies whether the result URL appears to be a bare site root. It reads the shape of the URL alone — the hostname and whether anything follows it — and does not inspect the page’s content, layout, or purpose. A value of 1 says the URL matched the root pattern; it says nothing about how good the homepage is.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear returns 1 when the URL is a nonblank HTTP or HTTPS address whose hostname is made only from supported word, digit, hyphen, and dot characters, followed by an optional trailing slash and nothing more. Anything beyond a bare host prevents a match: a path, a query string, an explicit port, and many internationalized host forms all cause the factor to return 0. Because the test is a character-shape match on the URL, unusual but valid root URLs can be classified as 0 when they fall outside the supported character set.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | The URL is a bare http or https root — a supported hostname with only an optional trailing slash after it, such as https://example.com/. |
| 0 | The URL carries a path, query, or port, is blank, or uses a host form outside the supported characters — for example https://example.com/pricing or https://example.com/?ref=nav. |
How to optimize it
Do not change a page’s type to influence this value — read it as an observation of what a URL is, not a target to chase. Use the homepage for the site’s primary identity and navigation, and choose the most intent-relevant landing page for each query. A parameterized or pathed homepage can legitimately score 0, and that is not a defect to fix for this factor’s sake.
Important considerations
- This factor is a URL-shape heuristic; it reads the address, not the page.
- A homepage carrying parameters, a path, or a port can score 0 even though it is genuinely the site’s front door.
- A score of 1 does not measure homepage quality, relevance, or authority.
- Query intent determines whether a homepage should rank at all — many queries are better served by a deeper page.
- This factor relates to position within a measured result set — it is a prioritization signal, not a cause of ranking, and turning a URL into a bare root does not by itself make a page rank.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.