Im confused. can I just create a simple HTML Sitemap for googlebot and upload it in my root. my root has not index. but it is redirected by htaccess redirection in a folder in the same domain. Thanks
The simplest Sitemap can be a text file with a list of URLs on your website. A more detailed sitemap will be in XML format. Quote from Google guidelines:
It should be ok as long you donot redirect the Sitemap. Best is to submit in Google Webmaster Tool and check the result after some time when Googlebot fetches it.
Have you created an XML sitemap for your site? Generate one then submit it in Google's webmaster tools
Generally what I do is create a simple HTML file for my sitemap and use that instead. Since the people who visit my sites will be using it to search for what they're looking for (I also use clear consistent text-based menus and a search form to aid the usability of the site's navigation) the search engines will have no problem picking up the sitemap and spidering it as well. It's best though to put the site map in your root folder (where your home page is) and to link it to each page on your site (I prefer near the top by the search form, or directly below the menu, depending on the placement of these page elements, and then repeated in the footer - again for usability purposes, which the search engines tend to piggy-back on if the page is constructed properly).
Like everyone above has pointed out, you should just create a site-map using Googles webmaster tools so you will know. It's very easy to do.
it will not be a sitemap. did you tried gsitecrawler? it's software which can help you to create a sitemap
Here it is. My site has a root, no content and a directory of a forum. htaccess redirects it at the directory. I placed and XML sitemap using a web based sitemap generator in the root with no content and the directory with the forum since I will create an index file in the root in the future for blogs and CMS. Then I placed another sitemap txt sitemap in the root- root has no content but htaccess, folders and sitemap. I submited the 3 sitemap to google. The 3 sitemap is OK. I also submitted the 2 url 2 google. the root with no content and the directory with the forum/index.php. What bothers me is that I submitted a url with no content which is the root with only .htaccess redirection and the sitemap. Will google ban me for that. I am really anxious. Hope someone can give me hope. I just learnd webdesign this week when i purchased a domain with my first credit card. I really like to thank you all for helping out a non born web designer like me. Thanks in advance. need your advice.
A sitemap is a sitemap is a sitemap. Just because it's not an XML file doesn't mean it's not a sitemap. Sheesh.
We used Google site map creator, BUT it limits to 500 pages. We have installed it Temp. on our site But how do we get an effective complete Site map?