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Sitemaps - worth it?

Discussion in 'Google Sitemaps' started by digital2006, Jan 9, 2007.

  1. #1
    I'm working on a new site and it should be launched in about a month. I've heard mixed things about sitemaps. Some say that you should add one, while others say it makes no difference at all. What's your take on sitemaps? Are they worth adding to new sites (that are already well structured), or am I wasting my time.
     
    digital2006, Jan 9, 2007 IP
  2. edr

    edr Guest

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    #2
    I don't think it could hurt - especially if your site is well structured it is likely you could automate the sitemap file and also use the same process to create a user site map - either way G and others will find your content.
     
    edr, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  3. websitetools

    websitetools Well-Known Member

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    #3
    What kind of website is it?

    Shopping, forum, small, big etc. ?
     
    websitetools, Jan 10, 2007 IP
  4. smullen

    smullen Member

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    #4
    Just my opinion but I think "sitemaps" will be compulsory in the future. i.e. in 2010 no sitemap = poor index.

    As for today, I think its a good practice to get into.
     
    smullen, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  5. scoopy82

    scoopy82 Active Member

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    #5
    I just recently place my first sitemap on one of my sites and finding it seems to be doing the job. This site for some reason was not getting its pages indexed by Google (possibly due to dynamic pages) and I noticed only about a dozen hits per day from Google before placing the sitemap. A week or two later... Google hits at least 100 or more of my site's pages each day.
     
    scoopy82, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  6. flagday

    flagday Peon

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    #6
    I find Sitemaps to be Gogle's most useful tool (way more useful than analytics). It's pretty clear where your site stands and why it is there in the serps when you see the link data.

    It is, of course, delayed. Like every other thing they tell us.:cool:
     
    flagday, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  7. sz2006

    sz2006 Guest

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    #7
    If your website is well structured, then sitemap won't do much help.
     
    sz2006, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  8. venetsian

    venetsian Well-Known Member

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    #8
    I would say that G sitemaps is the best tool they came out with .. great info on the linking texts (very important as you know) and internal texts .. give weird click information but that's ok ..

    to me sitemaps is a good thing and I make sure I have it on all my sites ..

    Cheers,

    Venetsian.
     
    venetsian, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  9. Richie_Ni

    Richie_Ni Illustrious Member

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    #9
    Some people even said there are some disadvantages doing that,in my opinion,if you will spend much time on link building ,don't bother with it.
     
    Richie_Ni, Jan 11, 2007 IP
  10. darah

    darah Peon

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    #10
    I'm not sure its that useful also.
    And the verification check is causing problems with some CMS so i'd say not to bother with it.
     
    darah, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  11. Richie_Ni

    Richie_Ni Illustrious Member

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    #11
    Exactly..I'm always having problems verifying my sites by upload .html file.
     
    Richie_Ni, Jan 12, 2007 IP
  12. MaxPowers

    MaxPowers Peon

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    #12
    I do not agree with this statement. Or at least, I think it's the CMS fault. If the CMS does not allow you to add a meta tag or allow actual files to be read from the web root, it is a shortcoming of the CMS and should only happen rarely.

    If it's the 200/404 redirect that is at issue, then the website/server is at fault. When 404'ed pages return a 200 HTTP status code, spiders could choke on a site forever. This breaks the basic premise of interoperability on the web. If a page isn't there then spiders, browsers, and many other systems will only know this when they receive a proper 404 HTTP status code.

    If there is another issue, please fill me in. I'd like to know about it.

    Sitemaps are as old as the web and do help out. Every major website has a sitemap in one form or another. If your site has more pages than navigation links, it ought to have a sitemap to help guide humans as well as spiders to all of your pages. Just as if you have more than a couple hundred pages, you should have some type of site search box in order to find things easier than a sitemap allows. Anything that makes a site more usable and allows a user to find what they are looking for faster will help your site score higher... with humans and machines.
     
    MaxPowers, Jan 13, 2007 IP
  13. darah

    darah Peon

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    #13
    MaxPowers, i think we agree on the necessity to have a sitemap.

    But the fact is : some CMS are causing trouble with the verification check from GG. I'm telling from pesonnal experience.

    Then, if the CMS is in cause, well its bad.
    If its the server, its bad also.
    And i'm totally with you on the fact that anything that can help users (human AND machines :) ) are to be installed by all means.
    But i droped the XML GGmap for a simple sitemap thats working fine.
    I dont bother with GGsitemap anymore.
     
    darah, Jan 13, 2007 IP
  14. MaxPowers

    MaxPowers Peon

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    #14
    If you are using one of the CMSes that give you problems with Google, I'd love to work with you and get your site to pass their validation. Even if you don't sign with them again, I'll bet that your site does better as a result of sending the proper 404's (unless it's the meta validation you are talking about with CMSes).

    PM me a domain and I'll be glad to help get it setup. Proper 404s have benefits beyond GGmaps
     
    MaxPowers, Jan 14, 2007 IP
  15. basket_case

    basket_case Peon

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    #15
    Sitemaps have not done much for me as far as indexing. I find all my pages eventually get indexed even if they are not in my sitemap. Sitemaps is good for finding out info about your site, changing the crawl rate, etc.
     
    basket_case, Jan 19, 2007 IP
  16. venetsian

    venetsian Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Yep .. I had the same CMS issue for not being able to put the google/yahoo sitemaps verification file, but I fixed that so you can have it in SEO Website CMS. Thanks people

    Cheers,

    Venetsian.

    P.S. I also have automatic sitemaps .xml creator which is handy for this CMS.
     
    venetsian, Jan 19, 2007 IP
  17. Hiops

    Hiops Peon

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    #17
    I think it's worth to submit it, at least it's not gonna hurt your site anyway.
     
    Hiops, Jan 20, 2007 IP