Do visitors actually use site maps?

Do any of you have some statistics as to how what percentage of website visitors actually uses sitemaps to navigate?

 

Some people do but not many, its a good way to get all your pages indexed though.

 

Right, but what other purpose does it serve if any?

 

I sometimes use them if I can't find a topic I know should exist, such at contact us

 

A lot would depend on what other forms of navigation are available to the surfer (such as a site search, logical main navigation etc.). In the absence of those, perhaps a surfer would use a site map (probably more out of need rather than desire) but most webmasters tend to tuck the site map link away down the bottom of the page somewhere making it difficult for the surfer to find in the first place.

SM's also allow webmasters that use 'uncrawlable' navigation systems (like graphics, scripts etc) the ability to get their pages crawled. And from an indexing point of view, it's far easier to change the deep links on a SM from time to time than it is to change your entire navigation system.

Phlegm.

 

Personally,as a visitor,I rarely use it.

 

The only reason I would is if I was unnaturally interested in a site, otherwise I just go with the flow surfing the various pages that I need information from.

 

sitemaps as far as i have seen it are to make indexing easier. but i must say i do use sitemaps on sites where the search sucks, but know the content is there...

 

I think you one of those rare people who do that, because in my opinion most of the people just click back button..

 

I dont use sitemaps, if your site has decent link pop, all the pages will get indexed.

 

I use them. A lot of sites have pretty limited navigation, and I don't have time to be bothered digging for what I want. It's easier to use a sitemap in a lot of cases.

 

I went for the huh option - sitemaps can be used by people to find sections of your site - its a good rule of thumb to be able to find any page of your site within 3 clicks of the mouse from the index page - its a usability thing!

Secondly and more importantly sitemaps are benefical for the search engines! This way search engines can find all the important pages in your site and can also find deeper level pages which would normally get missed by a normal se indexing. If your site isn't that old the bots are only likely to go down 2ish levels. Having a sitemap means they get to access all your sites pages even those that are deeper within your site.

Hopefully that makes a little sense

 

not for me.. i use google search instead to look for word in that site

 

people rarely used this
but sometimes it is very usefull while the structure of website is not proper then we can find link in a quick manner

 

Usually when a website is big and confusing and the search function isn't working properly I use the sitemap. Other then that I dont use it.

It's a nice feature to have your website better indexed and always a nice "last resort" for your visitors when they dont find the information they're looking for.

 

I don't know about the users but I do use sitemap on sites with large number of menu items, it is faster to find stuff that way...

p.l.u.r.

 

A lot of websites have really bad navigation, and the sitemap is the last resort when you are looking for something. I use the sitemap right before I use the little red X navigational element.

But really, if your main nav is done properly, I don't think a sitemap is required for the user. Admittedly, doing good nav on big sites is harder than on small sites.

Having said that, I always provide one anyway - give people the choice.

 

I recently had to use it at geico's website because I couldn't find information about their affiliate program.

That is most likely one of the first times I have used a site map in my 7+ years on the internet.

 

I think so. I have at least one site where I can verify that.

 

ahh, that is the kind of feedback I was looking for.