Sitemaps are important because they allow the search engines like Google and Yahoo! to index your entire site and leave it available for other internet users to find. A sitemap is defined:
A site map (or sitemap) is a representation of the architecture of a web site. It can be either a document in any form used as a planning tool for web design, or a web page that lists the pages on a web site, typically organized in hierarchical fashion.
From Wikipedia. Original definition by Peter Morville, Information Architecture on the World Wide Web, Feb 1998, pp:58
A sitemap allows search engines to crawl your site more efficiently and index fresh material from any website. If a webmaster has move or deleted material, the search engine would recognize and change the search engine results to reflect the website change. Although having a sitemap eliminates most of the work that a webmasters takes in submitting a website to search, it does not totally eradicate the effort.
Sitemaps accepted by search engines are general coded in XML format, not HTML. However, a webmaster may create a sitemap structure with HTML for their visitors. For WordPress users, this can be easily done with the installation of Dagon Design Sitemap Generator. (Of course there are plenty of other sitemap plugins too.) Currently, the Dagon Design Sitemap Generator plugin is not an accepted sitemap, however, there is a great plugin that Google recognizes, which is the Google XML Sitemaps plug-in. Once one or both of the plug-ins mentioned have been installed, it is best to go to Google Webmaster Tools to inform them where to find the sitemap.
Sitemaps are not another new fad as they have been around for years. It was not until 2006, that search engine moguls like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN got together to create the guidelines behind a proper sitemap. Since then, sitemaps have been used as a vital technique for search engine optimization. Why? Well, as said earlier in the article, a sitemap would tell the search engine how fresh the content of a page is on any website and post it so internet users can find information they need. Sitemaps would recognize new material and direct crawlers to the information for indexing.
Outside Related Links:
- Sitemaps XML format – Sitemaps.org
- Major Search Engines Unite to Support a Common Mechanism for Website Submission
Do you have a sitemap for your site? Any other benefits you can think of when having a sitemap for your site?
Hi, think it’s a little more complicated. Just using a sitemap file isn’t the solution or guarantee to get indexed. See what Matt Cutts has to say on sitemaps: http://followmattcutts.com/2010/03/23/matt-cutts-on-sitemap-indexing/
Hi Bas! I read that article a long time ago. This is not for just newbie sites. This is for sites that are established, but are not indexing effectively as they should.
The sitemap plugins make things so simple now to create these for WP that I am not sure why everybody does not use them. There are so many benefits to them, especially when you add the XML sitemap and the video sitemap to your Google webmaster account, that it is well worth taking a couple of minutes to do this.
Thanks Nile for an excellent and crystal clear explanation of these very cool little digital assistants.
I have never given much importance to site map. Your post opened my eyes. Thanks,
Yes sitemap plugins make things so simple now to create these for WP.
Nile,
I did install a sitemap plugin but I have never checked it out to see how it is working or not working. Not even sure how to check it.
Warmly,
Dr. Erica
In the Google XML Sitemaps plugin, when you install it and go to the General Settings> XML-Sitemap in your WordPress backend, you should see for the first time for it to tell you to have the plugin build the sitemap for you manually. If not… then it has already done so.
I use Dagon Design for my html sitemap on my blog and it works perfectly. I do think the xml sitemap is the most important one as this is what the search engines use to crawl your site, so as long as your site is structured well it will improve your search engine placement.
Both your sitemap recommendations in your post I think are a must have if you are running a blog.
The problem with the Dagon Design is that it has not been update in some time and it is not a valid sitemap according to Sitemaps.org
Sitemaps make it easier for search engine robots to crawl your site so I really agree that sitemaps should be prioritized by all bloggers and webmasters.
Thumbs up. I like to use two sitemaps, one for the main portion of the site and another specifically for the blog. It’s gotten me better results in the past.
You really only need one sitemap unless you have one that is for videos as well.
hi nile….
i am a new blogger and always hear about keyword research, backlinks and all this stuff
but this term ”sitemap” is new for me..i never heard about this term..
but as you mentioned in your comment that is is not for newbies..so i ‘ll firstly try to Establish my blog and then i’ll go for it..
thanks for this nice info
There are so many benefits to them, especially when you add the XML sitemap and the video sitemap to your Google webmaster account, that it is well worth taking a couple of minutes to do this.
Nice post.Its a very interesting article on Interesting topic.Now a days everyone wants to know about importance of sitemap.Thanks for giving a answer to them.
Very nice and informative post on sitemaps. And I agree with you it play very important role while search engine crawl the website. I know only Google sitemap generators. Thanks for sharing different sitemaps tools. Great work Keep it up
Sitemap is very important because it shows the structure of your site, its sections, the links between them. Sitemap make navigating your site easier. It’s really true that with the help of plugins it is very easy to create sitemap.
Ya I do think the xml sitemap is the most important one as this is what the search engines use to crawl your site…Thank you for a post..
I’ve installed Sitemaps XML for WordPress to the majority of my Blogs, but more work needs to be done in order to get your site indexed higher on search engines – nice article
After owning a few websites and not creating a sitemap whilst creating the website is a drastic mistake as I’m not willing to pay $50 or so just for a website to create a sitemap for me! Its lucky for you bloggers that you get it free 🙁
You can always manually create a sitemap. However, with content management systems, it is automatically created for you. Less money and time. 🙂
Hi Nile thanks for giving the whole idea of sitemaps….It’s very useful for me…I have never read such a nice article about sitemaps……
I really appreciate your qualified move toward. In fact your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own web site going now. I always prefer to read the quality content and this thing I found in you post. Fitness equipment los angeles
How right you are, sitemaps are very helpful towards SEO, this site is free and simple to use to build an xml sitemap, http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ I use it all of the time and also use the WordPress plug in that you suggest.
And as you say it always is helpful to use the Google Webmaster Tools to register your site and sitemap.
now I know… Good thing I have created a sitemap on my website using a plugin. Thanks for reminding me!
I have no idea how to do the site map, Excellent tips indeed! I really love to learn from the well experience one.. I will always keep that in mind..
Yes having a sitemap for our blogs is important. That way we can get our content indexed. Another good strategy is to go to google webmasters and manually submit our sitemap once a week.
Hi Jacob! You really should not have to submit your sitemap 1 time per week. You should set your sitemap to automatically update and set the importance of posts or pages to how you wish them to index. Submitting them constantly to Google does nothing. Google updates 1 time a month for major page rank updates.
Whilst it surely is important to add a site map, and good practice.. I have several sites I don’t have sitemaps for and they rank well..
I think if you plan your site structure well, and make it easy for spiders to find your important content from your homepage (without nofollowing everything) usually there is no issue..
Hi Nile,
I totally agree about sitemaps. They’ve been used for a long time and plugins on WordPress have just made it easier for us to utilize them.
I use the Google XML Sitemaps on my blog and it does really help. I do notice a different between having it and not having it. Great post!
Hmmmmm I’m going to have to have my techy guy (aka my husband, Rich) look into whether I have a site map or not.
Glad to know there are some good plug-ins available,,,although to be honest, this is such a basic thing, I better have one installed already! ; )
Thanks for another great post, Nile!
Nile,
Thanks for the great information again. I love sitemaps. I like the “BWP GXS” (or something like that) sitemap generator plugin a little better than the one you listed, although the one you listed is a known standard and a good one. The one I’m referring to is something like Better WordPress Google XML Sitemap generator. I like it because it generates several sitemaps based on posts and categories then generates an index of those sitemaps to submit to Google Webmaster Tools. And it’s supposed to not slow your site down as much. So important that you shared that with your readers as well.
I’ve heard that the Dagon sitemap generator is great for visitors and still can help your SEO.
Thanks,
— Jupiter Jim
A sitemap is definitely essential if you want google and other engines to spider regularly. I also agree that using webmaster tools and asking google to visit when you make changes speeds up the whole process. The webmaster tools will identify any problems with your sitemap too.
Great article. The moment i added a sitemap to my pages, it defenetly help my SEO, this article really outlines it in the proper way.
Thanks a lot!
I was also told that it’s important to have the “S” in /Sitemaps.xml capitalized. Not sure why or what effect it has, but I guess it can’t hurt. Great post!
No, you really do not have to have the S in sitemaps in your URL uppercased at all.
Hi Nile,
Agree, Nice post/blog, I’m on learn SEO/IM, thanks for sharing.Thanks ya, Erni
thank for the post
I’m just new on SEO and I learned the benefits that I could get from sitemap. Thank you for sharing.
Informative post indeed! I find sitemap very helpful in generating traffic to a certain website. 🙂
Nile, I just want to ask is it possible to install 2 different sitemap generator. Does it have advantage / disadvantages. Currently I am using the google xml sitemap plug-ins.
Hi Matt! From what I know, there are people that have an XML sitemap for their posts and then there is one available for videos. I do not see having two as a problem in that case, but you really only need one valid. Some people to have an archives page that is set up more like a sitemap, and it is not a valid sitemap, but can be useful as an extra way for visitors to search your site.
Hi. That’s really interesting info. I did’t know that much about sitemaps before. Still trying to make something with my web. Regards
Yes I agree with you. Sitemaps allows faster indexing of new topics on Google. I also have sitemap on my site and I must say that Google Sitemap XML is the best.
Thanks Nile for this superb Article.
I am using Google Xml Site map but i thinking to create a page for Sitemap as a menu on my site.
Thanks.
Sitemaps are useful for sure but you need to make sure to submit the map to Google’s Webmaster Tools.
The information that Google will feed back to you through that section of it’s site is actually really useful for webmasters and gives you an insight as to how Google sees your website.
Thanks Nile for providing the importance of Sitemaps. I am new in the blogging field and getting information by reading these types of Tutorials to get some good results for my blogs.
Site maps are very important for a website as we have so many inner pages,by using site map it gets easier to index.Thanks for providing the informative post.
Hy, I agree completely with your sitemap is very important for a website. If allowed to ask, sitemap my blog not appear in search engines, how can I make my blog can have a sitemap? please help …
I visited again, a few days ago I’ve had a blog sitemap in google search engine sitemap but suddenly it disappeared. Can Nil help me? what should I do to restore a sitemap?
Hi Niles, I really like the Dragon Design sitemap, have been using that in combination with Google XMS smps for many years, on a number of blogs. I’m not sure why WordPress.org took the DD sitemap of their list.
I use plugins to generate my sitemaps
Really your blog is full of premium information. Well I usually I create 3 sitemaps for my client sites. One is simple – sitemap.xml , 2nd one is sitemap.xml.gz and 3rd one is sitemap.html
It makes our site easy to crawl for search engines as well as easy to navigate for our site users.
Site map is just like road map; An XML site map can make hits for your site better and more exact when someone searches Yahoo, Bing and Google.
Great articles. Its help me a lot. Thanks for sharing
its very important to have a site map in a website as it shows the structure of the web page and it makes a web page that lists the pages on a web site, typically organized in hierarchical fashion.in this manner it helps crawler while its in a search inside the web page.
Plz tell me that robot sitmap is necessary or I should use manually?waiting for your reply.Thank you
You should really have a sitemap. I’m not sure if Google Blogger allows for one, but you need a valid sitemap to help the search engines easily crawl your site.
Yes, site maps makes a major role in the site crawl. Thanks for this awesome post
I have a sitemap on my site. I used the one included in the wordpress seo by yoast. However, I still have problem as my newly published single post would take forever like 2days before being indexed by search engines.
really sitemap play a great role in field of blogging the points you have mentioned are really nice thnx for this wonderful post
Thanks Nile,
I was basically told to install Google XML Sitemaps by an instructor that was
teaching the WordPress class I took, and I did so.
Truth told I really had no idea why. I still really don’t understand what i does or how it
benefits me, but I know and trust experts like yourself, so I feel and felt confident
in following their advice.
Nice post .. But can you tell me the best roll for blogger sitemap?