Should my client remove "SEO" from the XML sitemap name?
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I have suggested to a client with limited content on their site (considering it's in a very competitive sector with oceans of content possibilities!) that they probably shouldn't name the XML sitemap featuring their "seo content pages" (I hate that terminology BTW!) -
google_sitemap_seo.xml
My reasoning is that if I was a Google engineer or Google bot, I would probably ignore and disregard those pages because they are most likely poor quality content/doorway pages/boiler plate pages/ "enter your descriptive phrase here" pages.
The push back from tech is that it doesn't make a difference so we're not going to do it.
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Thanks for the feedback folks. The sitemap does hold more pages than the standard one, but then if it comes down to the name not being an issue, I guess we needn't worry. I'm still going to change it though.. makes me yak every time i see it.
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Although I think its poor taste, I think Google just looks at it as a sitemap name (placeholder), the content is what really matters.
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This could only cause problems if you have google_sitemap_users.xml not equal to google_sitemap_seo.xml - hope that's not the case with you.
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Outside of personal likes and dislikes, I have never come across a time where it has made a difference, but then again, I tend to just leave them as standard. Perhaps someone else has something different to show you but i wouldn't have said it's a problem. Regards, Andy
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