Search Engine Marketing Blog

Site Maps

Site maps are graphical representations of the way pages on a web site relate to each other. Site maps or site indexes are often prepared in planning a web site, particularly is the web site is large or complicated. This planning helps to ensure that all web pages are linked to the correct other web pages for the purpose of search engine optimization. Site maps or indexes are also used as a directory for web users to be able to more easily find the particular materials for which they are searching.

Site maps are important in determining that all pages in a web site can be found, not only by the human viewer but by the search engine robots. Site maps are even more important when the web site uses JavaScript or Macromedia Flash, neither of which can be viewed by the search engine robots. In this case, HTML code must be added to direct the search engine robot to additional pages.

Most search engines limit the number of links which they will follow from any one page, so you’re far better off to give the search engine robot a list of all the web pages which are associated with a site so that each one can be indexed in the search engine results.

Google Sitemaps was software developed to allow web masters to publish lists of their site. Without Sitemaps, only about one hundred dynamic page links would be followed. With Sitemaps, nearly one million links are listed. This means that much material that would otherwise not have been available to web users is identified on search engines.

Users have been slow to recognize the value of using a site map to find information on a site. Recent studies indicate most people will not perceive a site map as a road map to the website. They seem to be unable to comprehend information from a particular page. Many user’s cannot even find the site map with it is clearly market.

The same studies shows that most web site maps could not be understood by the user. Whether this is the fault of the programmer or the user remains to be seen. It’s important that the site map also reflect the purpose and mission of the search end game. At the same time, the site map should not just repeat the titles or descriptions of the balance of the web page. The site index doesn’t have to be boring, but it should definitely be informative and clear.

It’s important that the site map be easily accessible from one page. While drop down menus are certainly popular among many, in practice they can be much harder to prepare and design. They make it more difficult to see how the individual pages work together. Shorter site maps are generally just as informative as longer site maps and make it possible to better perceive the overall picture.

Site maps also should not attempt to present a moving view of a page. It should reflect the composition of the web site at a given moment in time.

Please view the search engine optimization services provided by ComCorp, Inc.

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