Website Design Resources: Using XML Google Sitemaps
Web Site Design Resources: Tips on the basic principles of good website design.
XML Google Sitemap
Creating and Submitting a XML Google Sitemap
A sitemap can be thought of as a table of contents to your web site. It will give your users and search engine a depiction of how your web pages are structured, how they are related to each other, and which pages are the most important. A sitemap is very important in helping your users navigate your website and even more important for proper search engine indexing.
Create a XML Google Sitemap
A XML Google Sitemap is just a sitemap that is formatted to be compliant with Googles standards. A Google sitemap is an invaluable tool in getting your website indexed quickly and efficiently. There are several options when it comes to creating a Google compliant XML sitemap, including downloadable sitemap creation software and online sitemap generators.
Submit Sitemap with Google
Once you create a XML sitemap, the next step is the submission of your sitemap to Google. The sitemap submission process is quick and easy, and only requires you to register a free account with Google.
Upon successful submission of your sitemap with Google, a handful of very useful tools become available that can help you diagnose any potential issues with your web site such as broken links or duplicate page titles. Google will also let you know if and when all the pages of your site have been crawled and indexed.
The creation and submission of a xml sitemap to Google is one of the most important steps in the establishment of a web site. This is a step that should not be overlooked by any competent web designer.