Google Sitemaps is a simple and fast way for your site to be constantly indexed and updated by Google.
This article will discuss the benefits of implementing this new technology, who should use it, how it works and how to create a Google Sitemap for your web site.
Benefits of having a Google Site Map
1. Speeds up the discovery and addition of your web pages in the Google index.
2. Enables Google to quickly find web pages that have been recently changed.
3. A method for your site to be listed and appear quickly in Google.
4. Helps Google to keep search content fresh, so people have the most up to date information available.
Who should use Google Sitemaps?
All site owners can use Google sitemaps whether you have one page or millions of pages, however it's mostly geared towards people that make frequent changes to their web pages.
Normally web pages on a large site will not all get indexed because the links are too deep within the site. By including all your pages in the Google Sitemap you have a better chance of them all being indexed as Google thrives on fresh content. According to Google, it won't increase your site's rankings.
How does it work?
Google sitemaps are created using XML (Extensible Markup Language). This is a coding language similar to HTML(though a little more complex). It is often used these days in syndicated feeds or blogs.
Here is the sample XML code you would include for each page of your site:
http://www.yoursite.com/
2005-07-15
monthly
0.5
(remove periods for code to work)
Here is a breakdown of what each line represents:
location - name of your webpage ie http://www.yoursite.com
last modified - when you last modified the page.
change frequency - tells Google how often you modify that particular page, whether it's never, weekly, daily, hourly, monthly or yearly.
priority - sets the priority you want Google to place for that page on your site. You can prioritize your pages: 0.0 being the least, 1.0 being the highest, 0.5 is in the middle.
This is only relative to your site. It will not affect your rankings. Certain pages on your site may have more significance than others because they are updated more often ie home page, articles page.
How to Create a Dynamic Google SiteMap XML File
It would take a long time to create your Google Sitemap by hand especially if you have a site that contains 1000s of pages.
Fortunately Google provides the Sitemap Generator that allows you to generate a sitemap very quickly. It's a Python script that creates a Sitemap for your site using the Sitemap Protocol. This script can create Sitemaps from URL lists, web server directories, or from access logs.
You can read more about it here:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login
Other Sitemap Generators.
Google has also compiled a list of third party generators.
Personally I use the free sitemap generator It's simple to use and quickly produces the necessary XML code for your site.
Here are the steps on how to create your Sitemap using this free Sitemap Generator:
1. Go to http://www.sitemapspal.com and enter your site's address.
2. Copy the code that it generates for your site and paste it into notepad.
3. Save the text file as sitemap.xml
4. Upload this file to the root directory (same place as your home page) of your web server.
5. Open up a Google Site Map account and submit your site's address.
6. Every time you modify a page or pages, login to your Google account and click on the resubmit button.
7. Repeat this procedure for all of your web sites.
Conclusion
Google is still the largest and most accessed search engine on Net. Each year millions of web sites get added to Google making your site harder to find. Creating a Google Sitemap will help your web pages stay fresh in Google's index.
Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and author of http://www.isitebuild.com. Affordable Web Site Design and Web Hosting. You can read more of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com
scheduled maid service Northbrook ..Let's see here... as of today Google states it has... Read More
Hundreds of millions of people have spent thousands of dollars... Read More
An important question to answer when creating or revising a... Read More
Do you want to advertise about your website?Wait and have... Read More
Once you have built and uploaded your home business website... Read More
Many companies after spending a substantial amount of money on... Read More
With the increase competition on the Internet, it can be... Read More
Viral Marketing is allowing people to giveaway and use your... Read More
This article reveal the same techniques that many Internet marketing... Read More
Webmasters across the globe are involved in a race to... Read More
Acquiring relevant backlinks to your website is one of the... Read More
What do you do next! you have been working so... Read More
Every web business should be using testimonials. Testimonials are extremely... Read More
Google is the most popular internet search engine and even... Read More
1. Tell people you have a siteThis might seem blindingly... Read More
Over the past couple of months it has been quite... Read More
Consider for a minute my son's website for grass mowing,... Read More
Is your website looking alittle bare? It's okay, you're about... Read More
The following traffic generating ideas do not require costly set-up... Read More
Have you even been to CNN's website? Odds are you... Read More
Giving away content is a powerful way to get free... Read More
The beauty of the Internet is that it allows you... Read More
Does your business struggle with profitable online marketing? If so,... Read More
After the incredible success of Hotmail.com, the use of signature... Read More
Directories are important to your ranking and success with Search... Read More
reliable maid service Highland Park ..The shortcut to succeed in business is to do what... Read More
The beauty of the Internet is that it allows you... Read More
If you're having problems generating a lot of sales at... Read More
How to market your business? It needs your continual effort.... Read More
Google is the most popular and most used search engine... Read More
With the web today you "sorta haveta" have a rank... Read More
Have you noticed lately how savvy webmasters are using simple,... Read More
Virtually all website owners concentrate their efforts and energy into... Read More
My name is Barbara Mascio. I am the founder of... Read More
If you've subscribed to an seo newsletter for longer than... Read More
When promoting any product or service every hit to your... Read More
When the economy is down, your website sales may go... Read More
Every business owner want to attract more orders and have... Read More
If you are not getting traffic at your website and... Read More
How to improve conversion rate for your website? How to... Read More
The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or... Read More
1. Ping weblogs.com and other search engines. When you ping... Read More
Before one can fully understand the importance and necessity of... Read More
OK. So you took the leap and started your online... Read More
Recently one of my students asked a great question: We... Read More
Do you want to advertise about your website?Wait and have... Read More
Making money with your web site is the dream and... Read More
Many companies after spending a substantial amount of money on... Read More
Here are 5 questions to flex your mental muscle to.... Read More
Website promotion is certainly a main focus of all business... Read More
Web Site Promotion |