The Confusion Unravelled Regarding Sitemaps

A sitemap is often used to list all details of a particular subject

, very similar to a books index page. When it comes to all things web we can't really use the term index page, as the index is Google's own list of all pages of all websites on the internet, therefore we have to rename our own websites index and thus arises the term sitemap page.

There are two types of sitemaps you can use on your website, and generally it's a good idea to have both forms available on your website.

The first being a static html based sitemap. This page lists all the pages available on your website that can otherwise go unseen to the human eye on first inspection of the home page. For example, if your navigation menu bar has a drop down facility listing other pages within this category, or if when you select a menu item this opens up a page which contains further options and pages within this category.

If you have an e-commerce site or your site contains too many pages to manually input these into the sitemap page then it's a good idea to add a sitemap module on the back end of your website, which coincides with your content management system. Drupal is a fantastic example of this. Drupal contains a module attachment that automatically detects all pages and content within your site and produces a static html based page with all the required information available at a touch of a button.

The second form of sitemap is an xml sitemap. This is specially formulated for the search engines in particular. To a user, this bears no relevance and therefore is not listed on the website and cannot be accessed easily, as it would only further confuse the user. This sitemap lists all the pages, categories and products within your website to include image files. It also contains the date the file was last updated. As per the Google Freshness update, this particular sitemap is crucial to websites. As Google scours the internet and indexes pages, this new update see's the search engine going to freshly updated websites first, therefore, if your xml sitemap is regularly updated, chances are Google will index it on a regular basis than before, and thus giving your site more chance to further increase in ranking.

Google tends to crawl this page prior to the rest of your websites content. It would therefore be advisable to ensure your xml sitemap is up to date. Using free sitemap generators will no longer suffice. Contact your website company to ensure you have the correct xml sitemap module installed on your website.

by: Sabina Kucz

POST COMMENT

Guidelines For Translating Your Website From English To Spanish How Does Googlerank Websites Learn How To Sign The Top Insurance Contract Through The Car Insurance Comparison Website Website Optimization Tips For Increased Profits Link Building Strategies - Appropriate Web Videos For All Websites Increase Website Sales With These Steps Seo Mistakes That Can Cost Your Website The Website Talking Spokesperson Videos Program Might Be Capable To Help You Increase Your Website C The Main 3 Most Effective Methods Of Website Advertising See The Sites When You Have Your Indian Visa Four Methods To Choose Ideal Link Building Companies On Your Website Advertising Have You Ever Evaluated That Your Particular Web-site Could Possibly Be Bothersome? Seo Services India-promoting Your Websites