Creating A Google Sitemap For Your Website
Here are instructions for creating and adding a Google Sitemap to your website.
What is a Google Sitemap?
A sitemap is a roadmap to your site for search engines. It allows search engines to understand the structure of your site, see where new content has been created and generally helps Google understand and list your site correctly. And if you help Google, Google will help you.
Will A Google Sitemap work with other search engines?
Yes. A properly created Google Sitemap will be accessed and used by any search engine that uses the ANSI Sitemap protocol.
Click Here For Information On The Sitemap Protocol From Google
How can I create a Google Sitemap?
There are two parts to using a Google sitemap: Creating the map and uploading the map to Google.
There are several ways to create a Google Sitemap. There are automated programs that you can configure to run on your web server that will automatically create new sitemaps for you on a schedule or when you manually run the script. There are also websites that will analyze your site and generate a sitemap for you.
Please be aware that if the above Python script is not installed and configured correctly you may not be sending Google any useful information or you might be sending old information. If it is not configured correctly you may end up "spamming" old site maps to Google, which Google or any other search engine will interpret as "black hat" and will peanalize you.
Also remember that after the sitemap is generated you will need to upload it to Google. The script does not automate the upload, just the generation of the map.
A Second Better Option For Creating Google Sitemaps
I would recommend you use one of the recommended online generators above. Personally I use this tool to create sitemps for our sites:
Simply follow the instructions and enter the correct information. Read the terms and conditions and make sure you accept their terms and understand their service.
Once you have entered the information and the site has created a sitemap for you, you will be able to download the finished sitemap and upload it to your webserver. You can download in different formats, but you want the "Download un-compressed XML Sitemap" link to get the correct file. When you upload the file to your site, it must be named "sitemap.xml". Upload this file to the root directory of your website.
Now that you have created and uploaded the sitemap, you can tell Google (and any other search engines you desire) that you have a new sitemap. To do this, go into your Google account and select the Webmaster Tools. Using the webmater tools, upload your Google Sitemap to Google and follow the verification process. You will only need to verify the first time. After that, as long as the name and directory is the same (and it must be) you can simply upload the file to Google each time you update your site and update your sitemap.
Never "Spam" your sitemap to Google. Send it once and only when you have added a page to your site. If all you have done is edit your content - do not create and upload a new sitemap. If Google thinks you are sending duplicate sitemaps to get their attention, you will have their full attention and it wont be pleasant. So remember- upload once and only once when you have created at least one new page for your site and have updated the map.
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