SEO : Sitemap

A sitemap contains links to every non-restricted page in your website. It is vital for helping spiders discover and index all your public facing content.

Sitemaps can also help our human visitors to locate content quickly.

HTTP Sitemap

It's really easy to create our own basic web page with links to every page listed on our site. This way we can format it nicely with our website style.

But a quick and dirty way is to use an online sitemap generator, such as the excellent one at: www.xml-sitemaps.com

Just enter the URL of your website (eg. http://www.mysite.com) and leave all other settings the same. Once it has completed, download the HTML Sitemap version.

Then :

1. open sitemap.html in a web editor or notepad
2. edit out any private content, such as admin or member areas (saves the spider a wasted journey)
3. edit the format to match in with our web site
4. put a link to it at the bottom of every page in our site (or include the link in a global footer)
5. upload sitemap.html to the root of your website, so it is accessible at www.mywebsite.com/sitemap.html
   

XML Sitemap

Search engines such as Google like XML versions of sitemaps.

Again you can create this easily and freely at www.xml-sitemaps.com, this time choosing the "download un-compressed XML sitemap" option.

Perform same process as before, then upload sitemap.xml so it is accessible at www.mywebsite.com/sitemap.xml

	Do... use BOTH the HTTP and XML methods, so both files are present in the root folder put a link to the HTTP version of the sitemap at the bottom of EVERY page on your site submit the XML sitemap to Google using Google Webmaster Tools update your sitemap(s) if you have created any new pages / made structural changes, etc
	Don't... create a sitemap once then never return to it - keep it current and updated (or your ranking will be affected)

www.xml-sitemaps.com - generate HTTP and XML sitemaps www.google.com/webmasters - upload and track sitemaps, indexed pages, etc