Hi Will,

Ouch! That is a lot of money for what should be a straightforward task.

I think you may have missed what I said earlier in that the Unlimited version of XML-Sitemaps is ONLY available as a server install. You do not get a piece of software that enables you to generate the sitemaps externally and upload them.

There are other services around that enable you to generate externally via a web interface and upload. The paid version of freesitemapgenerator.com is one of these, but does require a verification file to be uploaded to the server before it can run. It is a simple text file that verifies ownership of the site.

In the end, if you are not happy with the service you are getting, you have the option to find another web development company who are a better fit for you. If you decided to do that, then the new company should be able to negotiate the change with the old company to minimize disruption.

It makes me a little sad to hear of clients who feel the way you do and I'm sorry that you have had a bad experience with our industry. Thankfully, there are plenty of good companies out there if you should decide that the situation is untenable for your business. For most of us, making things right for a customer who has not had the best of it is a priority.

I hope you can work it out without too much more stress

Sha

Hi Will,

If their preference is to write their own script it is likely that they EITHER have had previous experience with a 3rd party script which proved difficult to configure OR they intend to add features or changes which would require a hack anyway.

As I see it you have 3 options:

1. Accept their offer to write a custom script. Given the fluid nature of your update schedule, the advantage of this would be that they may be able to add a "manual fire" option. This would  effectively give you the ability to click a button and manually generate sitemaps (xml & html) and ping the search engines if you make updates more frequently than the auto-run schedule. If this were the case, the script could be configured to run weekly and you could update as needed.

2. You could ask them to install and configure the 3rd party script for you instead of using theirs. Given their preference for writing their own script, it is likely they may have internal issues which would influence whether they are willing or able to do this.

3. IF your site has less than 500 pages you could run the free version whenever products are updated and email the xml sitemap to your web development company for upload. While the use of the generator is free, the company is likely to set a fee for this service. Although a file upload is a very simple task, it can be very disruptive to production schedules to have to do this if it happens often. As a project manager I well understand the issues that this kind of small task can cause. I generally end up doing them myself because the company resources required to allocate and track the task are more than it is worth. End up with two or three clients who want a file uploaded once or twice a week and the novelty can wear off very quickly!

If it were me I would work from the assumption that the company has valid reasons for preferring to write a custom script and just ask them to explain it for you. What will the script do? How will it work? What are the benefits for you and for them?

In the end, you will need to make a judgement on what will be best for your business. If you can repair your relationship with the existing company there is no danger of disruption to your business through server change etc. Disruption can be avoided or minimized if sites are moved , but this requires co-operation from your current company and parting on a poor relationship sometimes doesn't inspire co-operation

Hope that helps,

Sha

Hi Will,

You can just pay for the script and have your web company install it on the server. If you want to have it create image sitemap in addition to page structure sitemap there is a $5 image sitemaps add-on. So cost for both would be $24.99 US dollars plus whatever your web company charges to install the script.

To get the XML-sitemaps people to install it, all you have to do is provide them with your ftp login information. The advantage of this is that they know the script and how everything needs to be configured to make it work correctly.

Once the script is installed it will auto generate the sitemaps as scheduled (you would get them to configure frequency when they install it). Each time new sitemaps are generated the script then pings the search engines to notify that new sitemap is available for download.

The unlimited version only works as a server install. If you have less than 500 pages in your site you can run the free version and upload as often as you wish for no cost at all (as long as you have ftp access).

Not sure what the 200 pounds price is for, but my guess would be that they are either planning to write a script for you OR buy a 3rd party script like XML-Sitemaps & install & configure it for you.

Hope that helps,

Sha

Hi Will,

There are several companies out there which provide paid sitemap generation services by installing a script on your server which is set to automatically generate sitemaps and to ping the search engines whenever a new sitemap completes.

Probably one of the best that I know is the unlimited version offfered by XML-Sitemaps.com. The cost is only US$20 and if you cannot install it yourself they will handle installation for an extra $10.

There are others around and may even be some free scripts out there if you have the ability to install on your own server. There are also modules etc available for standard ecommerce platforms like Oscommerce etc.

Hope that helps,

Sha

Hi Jesse,

Basically, the only significant search volume is for the shorter two word term "minneapolis massage", so there is no benefit in going for the longer term (which also has a negative correlation for rankings).

So, since Ryan advised that the .net version of minneapolismassage is available, if you are wanting an exact match domain that might be a better option.

Since the return you are wanting is quite modest, then the traffic afforded by that term and the little extra you might attract from other terms should work for you if you can get some reasonable rankings.

I would suggest that you put some good effort into local search optimization if you decide to go with that domain.

Hope that is clearer,

Sha