Sitemaps are without doubt one of the most often ignored and undervalued aspects of search engine optimization. You've probably spent a huge amount of time working on pages of original content, keyword density and getting incoming links but never once spared a thought for a sitemap for your new creation.
What is a sitemap?
Put simply it's a page or pages that contain a list of and link to all the other documents on your site. This is useful on two levels:
1. Your visitor can quickly reference all the documents on your site to find exactly what they're looking for.
2. Search engine spiders can also quickly find and index every single page of your site in the least amount of time. The SEO benefits of using a sitemap far considerable and should not be ignored.
This is a win-win situation for you, your website visitors and the search engines. Put simply you're nuts if you've not included a sitemap as part of your overall website promotion strategy.
The good news is that it's never too late to start. You can create a sitemap page today but there are some rules to creating an effective sitemap that you need to follow:
Your sitemap must only be linked to from your homepage and no other page. Why? You want the search engine spiders to find this link directly from your homepage and follow it from there. Your sitemap MUST NOT be linked to from every other page of your site. Also from a Google Pagerank point of view only linking to your sitemap from your homepage can also "funnel" PR quickly to pages all over your site.
If you have a large website of 50 pages or more limit the number of pages listed on your sitemap to a maximum of 30. This is to prevent your sitemap from being misinterpreted as a link farm by the search engines. It also makes the sitemap a lot easier for real human visitors to read through. Limiting the number of pages listed on each sitemap to 30 might mean splitting your sitemap over 5, 10 or 20 pages. This has to be done and the long term benefits are worth it. Bear in mind that if you do create a 20 page sitemap you've just created an extra 20 pages of content for your website!
Make absolutely sure that each of your sitemap pages links to the next. If you have 10 sitemap pages in total then each of those needs to link to every other sitemap page. Otherwise both visitors and search engine spiders will find a broken link, lose interest and go away.
Test your sitemap thoroughly. Make sure all the links works. Make sure it's easy to read and navigate through. Your sitemap is there to assist your visitor and not confuse them.
How should you structure your sitemap? The following tips must be adhered to in order for your site to gain the maximum possible benefit from having a sitemap.
1. The title of each sitemap link should be keyword rich and link directly back to the original page.
2. Include 10 - 20 words of text from the original page of content underneath the relevant sitemap link. This creates more content for search engine spiders and human visitors can see exactly what each page is about in advance of clicking. uman visitor benefit is that they can see what the pages is about in advance.
3. Ensure that the look and feel of your sitemap page is consistent with the rest of your site. Use the same basic HTML template you used for every other page of your site.
So now you understand the importance of building a sitemap for your website. There is work involved but the long term benefits for your websites far outweigh any effort you have to make right now.
This article was provided courtesy of Search-Engine-Fuel.com where you'll find tons of information on search engine optimization. Check out our page on SEO sitemaps.
Definition:Google banning occurs when Google removes your site from its... Read More
What's the difference?For those who aren't quite clear what the... Read More
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) must be considered a process and... Read More
Dynamic pages and the Search Engines By Clare Lawrence 10th... Read More
Every once in a while--and probably more often than we... Read More
Open Wordtracker [ http://www.wordtracker.com/ ] and you'll see... Read More
There is a lot of competition to get good spots... Read More
First, you must realize that targeting the right keywords or... Read More
Last Week I did a Search engine Experiment. I wanted... Read More
SEO (search engine optimization) is a booming businees these days.... Read More
Every website has times when traffic is higher than others.... Read More
If you have any interest in getting high search engine... Read More
One of the most overlooked strategies to improve search engine... Read More
Whether you launch a search engine optimization program in-house or... Read More
Yet the simple truth is that without traffic a website... Read More
There are many techniques that SEM/SEO experts use to optimize... Read More
One of the post from My SEO world Meet Up... Read More
If you imagine that building an optimized site is like... Read More
It's common knowledge - we all know that it is... Read More
As Google has gained in their search reputation the past... Read More
Keyword Research will reveal answers to 3 critical questions:1. Is... Read More
We know that each and every website page is assigned... Read More
OK, you published your site, now you just sit by... Read More
Back in November 2004 I discovered a way to get... Read More
I came across a new website the other day and... Read More
Links are a crucial part of attaining high search rankings,... Read More
It only makes sense. You have an e-commerce catalog site.... Read More
This article will cause many companies to stir, but it's... Read More
It doesn't matter what kind of marketing you are involved... Read More
I recently was asked by an author to remove a... Read More
Having a Google Sitemap just got better! Not only does... Read More
You may be hiding if the search engines can't 'see'... Read More
The importance to the algorithmic web crawlers that speed throughout... Read More
Nowadays, there is so much talk about SEO (search engine... Read More
You probably do this already - complete regular searches in... Read More
The Internet may have started as the fervent brainchild of... Read More
In the Guide, you have, so far, learnt how to... Read More
The Site Map is a too often overlooked piece of... Read More
Search Engine Optimization is a key to any successful internet... Read More
Their is simple way of making your website rank top... Read More
I recently invested quite some time into generating search engine... Read More
There are many facets to SEO and the search engines... Read More
Search engines determine their rankings based on two things: ... Read More
If you're reading this article, you've probably discovered that simply... Read More
Smartpages are highly optimized pages which draw stampeded of search... Read More
Good keywords are frequently searched for (high demand) but not... Read More
It is no secret that search engines are the number... Read More
Not many web master take the time to use a... Read More
Most Internet marketing methods are risky and many will not... Read More
What is Google Sandbox?Google Sandbox is applied on new websites,... Read More
I admit it, our SEO services are pretty bad.Speaking of... Read More
Ever see a website that seems to speak a foreign... Read More
Branding versus search engine optimization is a marketing dilemma that... Read More
Yahoo has fairly recently updated its guidelines. You can read... Read More
I just read an article at SitePro News that really... Read More
While search engine advertising has been a great advertising medium... Read More
OK, you published your site, now you just sit by... Read More
When Google Adwords first came on scene, it was not... Read More
Top 10 search engine rankings. Everybody wants it but a... Read More
It seems I now do this rant every single year... Read More
In order to get a top 10 google ranking it... Read More
With search engine algorithms changing seemingly daily, the quest to... Read More
Most people feel that optimizing is to target the search... Read More
Do you have a website that has little or no... Read More
So you have a site concept developed that you are... Read More
Everyone seems to want the benefits from working at home:... Read More
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) |