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Sitemaps-Are They Important

By Vickie J. Scanlon


Site maps, are they important? Do you really need one? These were several questions that I often asked but was hesitate to ponder to closely because of the technical aspects involved. But as the number of pages began to add up, I had to seriously consider the relevancy of a site map to that of SEO, the search engines, as well as, accessibility to my visitors.


SEO, visitors and your site map

A site map is important and should be utilized when, or if you are expecting your site to continue to grow. With that being said -- a site map should be as simple as possible for the search engines and your visitors.

If you construct your sitemap correctly, it should provide:

1. the search engines with a ready source to better understanding the structure of your site, which in turns, helps them to better categorize and index your pages into their database. The more pages that are indexed by the search engines, the better the chances that more visitors will find your website.

2. those that visit your website with a ready resource for searching your site, if they are wanting to do a quick search or find your navigation to be a little confusing or misdirected.



When to Use it

A site map is a necessity if you have a website greater than 100 pages. If it's a one page mini-page, you would definitely have no need to supply your visitors with a sitemap.

However, if you know your website is going to grow to greater than 100 pages you should construct an organized sitemap that will burrow down to all levels of your website. Again, if it does nothing else, it does help the search engine spiders to better find all your pages.

Many say that if your site is going to be under 100 pages you can be more liberal in your sitemap organization. However, my thought is simple: why do it twice, start with organization and stay focused, as your site grows.


Updating your site maps:

When you add another page or you make changes to your web pages than your sitemaps should be updated and uploaded to your servers for the search engines to pick up. As you may have noticed in my last statement, I said "sitemaps". There is more than just the html or visual sitemap that we are accustomed to seeing; There is also the "behind the scenes" sitemaps that you present to all the search engines to further help them with indexing your site.



Different sitemaps for different search engines and the human eye.

The behind the scenes sitemaps is yet another important step that will help you to get the search engines to notice your site. But, as with everything, there are different sitemap protocols that you need to conform to--and that which the search engines will accept. Here is the breakdown:


Google -- Google prefers the gz-zip file with an xml format. 

Html Sitemap -- Yes, the search engines uses the html sitemap as well. But this is more helpful to your visitors.

I know that you are probably saying, this is a lot of work. Or, I don't have this type of knowledge to get the job done. What can I do? These were the same questions that I had. The answer is simple. You can use a  Free Online Sitemap Generator offered by XML Sitemaps. This sitemap generator creates all the sitemaps you need, to the specifications of Yahoo, Google, the independent search engines, and an html sitemap for your visitors. How much does it cost? It's free. How long does it take -- just a manner of seconds. All you do is put in your index page, and they will crawl your site. The only limitation is that your website has to have 500 or less pages, if it is more you will have to buy and download the standalone, which by the way, they will install on your server for you for a small fee.

To conclude, sitemaps are important for your visitors and the search engines and most definitely your site. Remember a sitemap can increase your traffic do in part to better indexing opportunities you have given the search engines to finding you. 


About The Author:
Vickie J Scanlon -- Visit her site at: My Affiliate Place for articles, ebooks, how to info of website protection, tech accessories, utilities security software, business software, computer deals and "How To" of many different phases of Affiliate Marketing/Internet Marketing.

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