by: Rachel Gawith
A quick search on Google for advice on creating a site map
initially threw up many links to software you could buy or
download for free to create a site map.
But why do you need a site map?
Basically as websites get larger and more complex both the
human browser and the search engine spiders need an easy to
follow map to find all the pages within your site. A site
map gives them a simple navigational tool.
Site maps have 3 main benefits:
1) A site map allows visitors to easily find what they are
looking for by simply visiting your site map and clicking
on the link to go directly to the page they want to visit.
2) Often technologies employed to assist in reading webpages
such as web page readers and screen readers can only follow
text links. For practical reasons it may not always be possible
to show a text link to every other page within your site on
your main page and other pages within your website and so
use a site map.
3) Search engine spiders like text and text links. If they
cannot follow a text link to a page of your site it may not
get indexed. Make it easy for the spider to index all your
pages through a site map.
A site map consists of the two things search engines love -
text and keywords. To build a good site map combine relevant
keywords with a hyper text links. For example on your site map
you may have a link to your webpage about website promotion so
your hyperlink should contains the words 'website promotion'
and link directly to that page within your site.
A site map does not need and indeed should not be fancy, but
should be clear and easy to navigate.
Here are some tips for a good site map:
1. Place a prominent link to your site map on every page and
lable it SITE MAP.
2. It should show all your webpages through different levels
as basic text links.
3. Use standard colours for links and visited links.
4. It should show a quick, easy to follow over view of the site
without the need to scroll around in the web browser.
Google started allowing people to submit site maps to their
account as a way of letting google know about all your webpages
and updates to your site. It does not increase your page ranking
at all but is worth taking the time to set up properly.
You can find free software for creating site maps at:
http://www.likno.com/sitemap.html
http://www.freesitemapgenerator.com/
And when you are done, don't forget to tell Google about your
site map so they can trawl and hopefully index all the pages
of your site.
http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login
A well planned site map can ensure your Web site is fully indexed
by search engines.
About The Author
(c) Rachel Gawith Rachel runs her own homebased business website at ComputerIncome.net which recommends a couple of excellent online businesses and promotional tools. Subscribe to Rachel's free weekly newsletter FreeDailyCash for more tips and information on working from home and get FREE advertising.
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