Does a KML file have to be indexed by Google?
-
I'm currently using the Yoast Local SEO plugin for WordPress to generate my KML file which is linked to from the GeoSitemap. Check it out http://www.holycitycatering.com/sitemap_index.xml.
A competitor of mine just told me that this isn't correct and that the link to the KML should be a downloadable file that's indexed in Google. This is the opposite of what Yoast is saying... "He's wrong. And the KML isn't a file, it's being rendered. You wouldn't want it to be indexed anyway, you just want Google to find the information in there.
What is the best way to create a KML? Should it be indexed?
-
There isn't really a good way that I know of currently to verify Google has indexed it...
-
Thanks for getting back! I wanted to show you a screenshot of my GWT. The geo_sitemap.xml is crawled with no errors but the locations.kml that it's linking to is never seen. That being said, how it the KML being seen by Google? Is there some way that I can verify?
-
Yeah we might as well ditch that but yeah it's crawled as a normal XML file as it doesn't give any errors at all in GWT.
-
Thanks for chiming in on this, Joost.
I wasn't 100% certain that geo_sitemap.xml was a problem, but the xmlns reference to http://www.google.com/geo/schemas/sitemap/1.0 in line 2 I thought might be throwing Google off - I take it they'll just ignore this and crawl the doc as any other XML file?
Thanks again.
-
I'm sorry to say Mike above is wrong. He's been deceived by the file name and didn't actually look to see what it did I guess. Our geo_sitemap.xml file is a normal XML sitemap, linking to the KML file, it's not actually a geo sitemap, it's just named that way for historic reasons.
See the first question on this thread and Susan Moskwa's answer: https://plus.google.com/+SusanMoskwa/posts/CmZejMkLN4r
-
Hi Anthony,
Sorry for the delay on this. In migrating over to the new Moz.com platform, Q&A messaging for admins has been a bit spotty.
You are right - geositemap.xml is using the "geo sitemap" protocol that Google no longer supports. This may cause Google not to follow the reference to locations.kml contained therein.
Unfortunately I don't have an alternative recommendation to Yoast's SEO plugin for this. Manually creating your XML may be your best option, or using software like GSiteCrawler to speed up the process, then manually add your KML file.
If this output from Yoast's plugin can't be manually configured, and the KML file is important enough to your goals that you consider it a top priority to have it crawled, it seems a clear choice to me to move away from this plugin and find a better solution. Unfortunately, I haven't dealt with KML files for WordPress in the past. I'd probably recommend site crawling software to speed up the process, then switching to manual to add this in.
Best,
Mike -
Hi Mike,
I think I'm starting to understand where you are going with this. It sounds like I need to index the KML using a link from the footer of the site instead of from the geositemap that Yoast creates since Google won't crawl it or past it.
I read on Google Sitemap page:
"We recommmend that you tell Google about geographically-based URLs by including them in a regular Web Sitemap."
If the KML is referrenced in the sitemap_index.xml, then it's being seen by Google but if the geositemap.xml is between the sitemap_index.xml and the locations.kml, then it is hidden from Google.
All of this is being controlled by the an SEO plugin for WordPress from Yoast. I am wondering if I need to create the KML manually and upload to the sitemap or if should I let Yoast continue to render it. Mike, do you use a specific tool/plugin for KML creation for Wordpress websites?
-
Hi Anthony,
"Indexed in Google" is irrelevant here. Sitemap protocol and the searchable web index have little to do with each other directly (sitemap files are not searchable in the web index).
If you're following the instructions on this page, you're good. Geo sitemap tags are no longer supported by Google.
Note: When I click on the link to http://www.holycitycatering.com/geo_sitemap.xml your server returns a "page not found" error, so I'm not sure where your geo URLs are located...
-Mike
-
If google webmaster tools doesn't return an error on when you test the sitemap then it should be indexing it fine.
-
How do you know know if Google can see the KML? It's not been listed in any of the search results for our sites using this plugin and this competitor is telling my client I'm wrong because you can't see the file in Google Webmasters.
I guess the main question is if Google isn't indexing the KML and Webmaster Tools doesn't index it, how do we know it sees the file?
-
There's one rule in SEO, Yoast is always right (not only because he's Dutch). But in this case he's right. By mentioning the KML file to Google it knows where it could be found. So it will trigger a visit to the file which get generated on the fly + by doing this it prevents you from being indexed.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Fred Google Update & Ecommerce Sites
Hi I've seen a couple areas of our site drop in average rankings for some areas since the 'Fred' update. We don't have ads on our site, but I'm wondering if it's 'thin' content - http://www.key.co.uk/en/key/ We are an ecommerce site and we have some content on our category pages - which is a bit more generic about the section/products within that section - but how can it not be if it's a category page with products on? I am working on adding topic based content/user guides etc to be more helpful for customers, but I'd love some advice on generating traffic to category pages. Is it better to rank these other topic/user guide pages instead of the category page & then hope the customer clicks through to products? Advice welcome 🙂
Algorithm Updates | | BeckyKey0 -
Google Index
Hi all, I just submit my url and linked pages along with xml map to index. How long does it take google to index my new pages?
Algorithm Updates | | businessowner0 -
Google Sign-In increasing organic encryption keywords?
I am curious how brands that have implemented Google Sign in dealing with the organic encryption keywords. Have encrypted keywords increased after applying Google Sign-in?
Algorithm Updates | | LNEseo
How are you dealing with the missing keyword information?0 -
Google places - are you still registering your companies?
Is Google plus taking over from Google Places? I have our company and website registered on Google places and Google Plus. Now we have a new website ( same company different product) Should I register a new listing on Google places? And what about Google Plus?
Algorithm Updates | | Realtor1010 -
I need help with drastic SERP difference between Bing and Google
One of our sites that has been around for a couple of years has about 60,000 pages showing on google, however, bing only shows 90 pages for the site. This same phenomenon has been happening across the board for our sites. Any ideas to improve our indexing results for bing?
Algorithm Updates | | atuomala0 -
Google Update?
We have a website that for the past several weeks has been very consistent at between 13,500 and 14,200 daily visits and this site received 15,600 last Thursday. THIS week, Monday is at 22,200, Tuesday is at 26,200, and at mid-day today (at about our traffic halfway point in the day) we're already at 14,000 today. This was a site that was bringing about 14,000 visits as of May 16th last year and dropped to 11,000 the following week. The traffic to this site this week is so far beyond statistical analysis that there must have been something that happened.
Algorithm Updates | | sourcelinemedia0 -
Why Google Cache is not showing ?
Hello Everyone, I have a question for you. Today when I checked cache:www.bollywoodshaadis.com on Google.com, it is showing following message. 404. <ins>That’s an error.</ins> The requested URL /search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=519&q=cache%3Awww.bollywoodshaadis.com&oq=cache%3Awww.bollywoodshaadis.com&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=2501l16050l0l16394l30l30l0l23l0l0l353l1781l0.1.4.2l7l0 was not found on this server. I was able to see sitelinks till yesterday but they also have disappeared now. Can someone please tell me why is this happening? Is this a temporary issue? or something needs to be done.
Algorithm Updates | | SEOcandy0 -
Any ideas why our category pages got de-indexed?
Hi all, I work for evenues, a directory website that provides listings of meeting rooms and event spaces. Things seemed to be chugging along nicely with our link building effort (mostly through guest blogging using a variety of anchor text). Woke up on Monday morning to find that our City pages have been de-indexed. This page: http://www.evenues.com/Meeting-Spaces/Seattle/Washington used to be at the top of page #2 in the SERPs for the keyword "Meeting Rooms in Seattle" I doubt that we got de-indexed because of our link building efforts, as it was only a few blog posts and links from profile pages on community websites. My guess is that when we did a recent 2.0 release of the site, there are now several "filters" or subcategory pages with latitude and longitude parameters in the URL + different page titles based on the categories like: "Meeting Rooms and Event Spaces in Seattle" --Main Page "Meeting Rooms in Seattle" "Classroom Venues in Seattle" "Party Venues in Seattle" There was a bit of pushback when I suggested that we do a rel="canonical" on these babies because ideally we'd like to rank for all 4 queries (Meeting Rooms, Party Venues, Classrooms, in City). These are new changes, and I have a sneaking suspicion this is why we got de-indexed. We're presenting generally the same content. Thoughts?
Algorithm Updates | | eVenuesSEO0