Site Maps Improve Site Value
By Lisa Barone
©2007 All rights reserved
Getting your pages indexed. It is your most important SEO goal and perhaps the one most vital in determining the
success of your SEO campaign. However, many search engines have trouble finding links buried deep within the structure
of your site.
So how do you make sure your pages are easy for the search engines to find? With a site map. Creating a site map
provides the search engines with a one-stop shop for all of the pages on your site. And if designed correctly, your site
map can also be a valuable resource to lost visitors looking to understand your site structure.
What is a site map?
A site map displays the inner framework and organization of your site's content to the search engines. Your site map
should reflect the way visitors would intuitively work through your site. Years ago, site maps existed only as a boring
series of links in list form. Today, they are thought of as an extension of your site.
You should use your site map as a tool to provide your visitor and the search engines with more content. Create
details for each section and subsection through descriptive text placed under the site map link. This will help your
visitors understand and navigate through your site, and will also give you more food for the search engines.
You can even go crazy and add Flash to your site map! Of course, if you do include a Flash site map for your visitor,
you will also need to include a text map so that the robots can read it.
A good site map will:
- Show a quick, easy-to-follow overview of your site
- Provide a pathway for the search engine robots to follow
- Provide text links to every page of your site
- Quickly show visitors how to get where they need to go
- Give visitors a short description of what they can expect to find on each page
- Utilize important keyword phrases
Why they are important?
Site maps are very important for two main reasons. First, your site map provides food for the search engine spiders that
crawl your site. The site map will give the spider links to all the major pages of your site, allowing every page
included on your site map to be indexed by the spider. This is a very good thing!
Having all of your major pages included in the search engine database will make your site more likely to come up in
the search engine results when a user performs a query. Your site map pushes the search engine toward the individual
pages of your site instead of making them hunt around for links. A well-planned site map can ensure your web site is
fully indexed by search engines.
Site maps are also very valuable for your human visitors. They help them to understand your site structure and
layout, while giving them quick access to your entire site. It is also helpful for lost users in need of a lifeline.
Often, if a visitor finds themselves lost or stuck inside your page, he will begin to look for a way out of his hole.
Having a detailed site map will show him how to get back on track and find what he was looking for. Without it, your
visitor would have just closed the browser or headed back over to the search engines. Conversion lost.
Tips for creating a site map
Your site map should be linked from your home page. Linking it this way will force search engines to find it that way
and then follow it all the way through the site. If it's linked from other pages, it is likely the spider will find a
dead end along the way and just quit.
Small sites can place every page on their site map, but larger sites should not.
You do not want the search engines to see a never-ending list of links and assume you are a link farm. Most SEO experts
believe you should have no more than 25 to 40 links on your site map. This will also make it easier to read for your
human visitors. Remember, your site map is there to assist your visitors, not confuse them.
The title of each link
should contain a keyword whenever possible and should link to the original page. We recommend writing a short
description (10-25) words under each link to help visitors learn what the page is about. Having short descriptions
will also contribute to your depth of content with the search engines.
Once created, go back and make sure that all
of your links are correct. If you have 15 pages on your site map, then all 15 pages need to link to every other site map
page. Otherwise, both visitors and search engine spiders will find broken links and lose interest.
Remember to update!
Just like you can't leave your web site to fend for itself, the same applies to your site map. When your site changes,
make sure your site map is updated to reflect that. What good are directions to a place that's been torn down? Keeping
your site map current will make you an instant visitor and search engine favorite.
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