Is my sitemap going to help me attract more visitors?
-
Hi,
As I await my sitemap to go live, can someone tell me the main benefits of it? A Google sitemap that is .xml one.
I have a images sitemap also as the site is an e-commerce store.
Should I be expecting to see an increase in visitors when I implement it initially?
Thanks
Will
-
Just to add a bit, if your pages are being frequently updated you can add a published date and frequency of updates in the XML You can also prioritize the pages (like giving your category pages a higher priority). However, only use these optional parameters in the XML if they will be used correctly and this will definitely help the bots in crawling your site. If your pages hardly ever get updated, then it makes little sense to let Google know in the sitemap that your pages never change.
-
Cheers. Exactly how I thought it would be.
-
Stephan's reply is spot on.
In short, if you do not have any island pages nor any pages buried deeply in your site, and you offer solid navigation then submitting a sitemap offers no benefit at all. If you have a poor design or other issues, a sitemap can allow pages to get indexed which otherwise might be missed.
-
It may allow more of URLs to get crawled, resulting in more URLs in the search index, hopefully resulting in more visitors. Here is what Google says about sitemaps:
Sitemaps are a way to tell Google about pages on your site we might not otherwise discover. In its simplest terms, a XML Sitemap—usually called Sitemap, with a capital S—is a list of the pages on your website. Creating and submitting a Sitemap helps make sure that Google knows about all the pages on your site, including URLs that may not be discoverable by Google's normal crawling process.
read the whole post here.
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
-
How important is anchor text in your sitemap?
I've read in a few recent articles that using keyword anchor text in your HTML sitemap is a good idea i.e. important. How important do you think it is? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Example 1: Widgets: View All Colors: Red | Blue | Green | Yellow | Orange | Purple Types: Oversized | Large | Small | Miniature Example 2: Widgets: View All Widgets Colors: Red Widgets | Blue Widgets | Green Widgets | Yellow Widgets | Orange Widgets | Purple Widgets Types: Oversized Widgets | Large Widgets | Small Widgets | Miniature Widgets
Web Design | | Choice0 -
I can’t understand, please help?
Our old <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">SEO</acronym> built a lot of bad links (web 2.0, article ect) and in April of 2012 we received the dreaded Google Webmaster Tools notice of detected unnatural links to XXXXXXXX After 4 requests and disavowing all of the links he created we have finally received Reconsideration request for xxxx Manual spam action revoked The only problem is that this feels more of a penalty than when the received the detected links email? Everything across the board as dropped, I know we added more and more links to the disavow but everything has been going up with the quality we have been putting out until today when we received the manual action revoked. Has anyone experienced this, I feel like I wish we were still under the penalty as the rankings have dived.
Web Design | | BobAnderson0 -
Would iFrames From a Beta3 Help the SEO Value of Domain?
What I understand as of now: Google does crawl iframes, but attributes the SEO value of the content within them to their original site. (Let me know if I'm mistaken.) What I need to know: If I were to iframe a section of a beta3.domainname.com site into a domainname.com site, does this beta3 attribute any SEO value to the domainname.com site? Essentially - Does good content on a from a beta3.domainname.com (which is mainly just a naked piece of content) bring any benefit to the domainname.com version of the site when it is iframed into the domainname.com site?
Web Design | | SmokewagonKen0 -
For A Corporation With 3 Distinct Business Divisions, Is It Better To Go With 1 Domain & 3 Sub-Domains, 1 Domain & 3 Folders, or 3 Domains for SEO Purposes?
Hi, I am working on a project right now for an existing client, we have one domain up and running well, they want to create an 'umbrella' site to cover three current business divisions and roll everything up under that main site, including the existing site on a totally different domain (would migrate over and 301 redirect from current domain). From what I've researched, I am inclined towards one main domain with three sub-domains due to the amount of content for each business division being significantly different enough that it seems to deserve separation from each other. However, in terms of SEO and maintaining consistent domain authority, would anyone recommend it be better to structure this as just folders/categories falling under the main domain instead of separate sub-domains for each division, and focus keyword targeting on pages tailored to that end within the main domain structure rather than spreading out link-juice to different sub-domains? Thanks!
Web Design | | Dan_InboundHorizons0 -
Google also indexed trailing slash version - PLEASE HELP
Hi Guys, We redesigned the website and somehow our canonical extension decided to add a trailing slash to all URLs. Previously our canonical URLs didn't have a trailing slash. During the redesign we haven't changed the URLs. They remained same but we have now two versions indexed. One with trailing slash one without. I've now fixed the issue and removed the the trailing slash from canonical URLs. Is this the correct way of fixing it? Will our rankings be effected in a negative way? Is there anything else I need to do. The website went live last Tuesday. Thanks
Web Design | | Jvalops0 -
Need help with image resizing (re: slow site)
I'm trying to figure out why I'm having speed issues with my site, and using google speed test to help me knock out some of the issues. One of issues deals with image resizing. I have a responsive design and so even though on the home page the normal width is 580 of the blog area, the full post can go up to 1170. So I size all of my images to 1170 wide and let CSS resize them depending on the size of the browser. (The images on the most recent post are a little bigger than this because I was testing something.) I was wondering what the best practice was in regard to what I'm trying to do. Also feel free to check out my site and let me know of any other feedback / advice you have. Thanks !:)
Web Design | | NoahsDad0 -
Wordpress or Joomla member function - HELP!
Does anyone know of a plugin/theme/template that would allow me to create a site with the following features: 1 section of content that is public 1 section of content that is only for registered members and that is hidden until you log in. A registration page A sign up form
Web Design | | MassivePrime0 -
XML SiteMap - Right Away or Delay?
So, I have a new client whose web designer declined to create an XML site map. They said that they would rather wait a year and let Google create one. I am wondering what the opinion of other SEOMoz members is about this--do you create an XML right away or think there is an advantage in delaying? Personally, I always prefer to have one right away--What is the best practice in your experience and why?
Web Design | | TheARKlady0