Difference between revisions of "Learn/Creating-an-XML-Sitemap"
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* You can also create multiple sitemaps to give you a form of analytics. For example, you could group similar types of content on your site into their own sitemaps and then look at how many of the pages in each are indexed in a month. This could tell you that search engines really like your x type of content because they've indexed it all, and that your y content may be just okay because only half of those types of pages are in the index. | * You can also create multiple sitemaps to give you a form of analytics. For example, you could group similar types of content on your site into their own sitemaps and then look at how many of the pages in each are indexed in a month. This could tell you that search engines really like your x type of content because they've indexed it all, and that your y content may be just okay because only half of those types of pages are in the index. | ||
* If you're using an XML sitemap, utilize the metadata option to point search engines to pages that matter and change the most. | * If you're using an XML sitemap, utilize the metadata option to point search engines to pages that matter and change the most. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Alternatives to an XML Sitemap== | ||
| + | If you don't think you need to tell search engines which pages on your website to check most frequently, it's probably better to create either a simple [[An HTML Sitemap Helps Search Engines Discover You|HTML sitemap]] or to choose another alternative. | ||
| + | |||
| + | It's easy to create your sitemap as a simple [http://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.php#otherformats text file]. In this type of sitemap, each web page's URL is placed on a separate line. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Another good choice is an [http://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.php#otherformats RSS feed]. This This is typically used for blogs. | ||
==Points of Order== | ==Points of Order== | ||
Revision as of 23:07, 27 July 2010
A sitemap (or site map) is a tool to help search engines crawl and index pages on a website more effectively. That can mean search engines will index more of the pages on your site, more quickly than without a sitemap. That in turn makes it easier for people to find your website.
Google and other search engines will spend only a limited amount of time crawling your site. A complete XML sitemap can direct search engines to your most important pages, increasing the likelihood that these pages will be indexed and then discovered by the people you want to attract. This is called "crawl efficiency," and a sitemap can help improve yours.
Google recommends having both an HTML sitemap and an XML sitemap following the Sitemap Protocol. Our article on creating an HTML sitemap tells you how to do it. In this article, we'll discuss the options for creating an XML sitemap, which is more complex.
Types of Sitemaps
- Sitemap Protocol sitemap options:
- Standard XML sitemap - This is a XML file that lists URLs along with metadata - such as how important a page is - to help search engines crawl your site more effectively.
A standard XML sitemap offers more options because of the metadata component, but a text file or RSS feed can be easier to create. If it isn't important for you to suggest your most important pages for search engines to check more frequently, it's probably just as well to create a sitemap in one of the simpler ways.
Creating your Sitemap
Google has instructions for creating sitemaps.
If this isn't something you can do yourself, there are many tools and sitemap generators that can help. (Note: Generators may not find pages that the search engines aren't finding so they may not help you much there . Looking into your database for a list of all your website's pages is ideal.) Also, if you don't have one already, an HTML sitemap is simpler to create and still does the trick.
Make it work: Let the search engines know about your Sitemap
Submitting your sitemap to Google via Google Webmaster Tools is probably the most important thing to do. You will need to login with your Google Account (like you do for Google Analytics, if you use that) and "add a site" to get started.
To the right is a helpful video from ReadyMadeWeb.com about submitting your sitemap in Google Webmaster Tools. Also, here is Google's instructions for submitting a sitemap using Google Webmaster Tools.
You can also submit a sitemap to Bing using their webmasters tools offering.
If you're familiar with robots.txt you can specify your sitemap there. This will help all major search engines know where it is and doing this can replace the steps of submitting it to individual search engines. Your entry in robots.txt will be one line in the following format:
-
Sitemap: http://URL-OF-YOUR-SITEMAP
Tips
- According to the protocol, if you have fewer than 50,000 pages you can list them all in a single file. If you have more than 50,000 pages, you'll need to break your XML sitemap up into multiple files and list the files in a sitemap index file.
- You can also create multiple sitemaps to give you a form of analytics. For example, you could group similar types of content on your site into their own sitemaps and then look at how many of the pages in each are indexed in a month. This could tell you that search engines really like your x type of content because they've indexed it all, and that your y content may be just okay because only half of those types of pages are in the index.
- If you're using an XML sitemap, utilize the metadata option to point search engines to pages that matter and change the most.
Alternatives to an XML Sitemap
If you don't think you need to tell search engines which pages on your website to check most frequently, it's probably better to create either a simple HTML sitemap or to choose another alternative.
It's easy to create your sitemap as a simple text file. In this type of sitemap, each web page's URL is placed on a separate line.
Another good choice is an RSS feed. This This is typically used for blogs.
Points of Order
- Sitemaps are purely supplementary. Web pages not in a sitemap can still be found and indexed other ways, such as through links.
- XML and text file sitemaps cannot have more than 50,000 URLs per file.
- You can have multiple sitemaps, and including the same URL in more than one is okay.
- Creating and submitting a sitemap does not guarantee that search engines will index all of the website's pages listed in it. It can help them find the content, but they will only index it if they like what they see.
Additional Resources
- {{{2}}} (visit) - Sitemap Protocol
- Google's Sitemap FAQs
- Google Webmaster Central has various help pages about sitemaps including creating sitemaps, submitting sitemaps and specialized sitemaps for things like video and images.
See more articles like this one.