in which the visitors have to find their way easily to gethold of information. · If the site map is list of text links,use the TITLE attribute of the anchor tag and include keywordsinside it. · Putting a sentence describing the page contentsbelow the link for that page on a site map is always good. · Itshould not be the primary navigation on the web site it shouldcomplement it. · It is very important that there is a link tothe site map page and all pages should carry this link. The sitemap link can be combined with other links in the main menu onthe web site or placed at a section on the web page from whichis it clearly seen. · Other important factors on a web siteshould complement site maps. For example, the link color forvisited links should be different from that of not yet visitedlinks so that visitors have a clear idea which pages they havealready seen and thus, save time.
In addition to the advantages a site map showcase to "living"surfers, it is also significant for robot surfers from searchengines . As a web developer should be aiming to get all visiblepages on the web site found in the search engine database. Asexpected a site map, from one page to another, should carrylinks to all, it is an ideal form to submit to search engines .Submission of the site map to a search engine might help ingetting all web pages indexed quickly by the search engine. Imay be incorrect since I have no data to support this point butit just seems logical. However, on a similar note, there isstill a limit to all the information that a search engine couldprovide a visitor. For example, if there's a page which is notfound in the directory program of the web site, it will not bedetected other search engines. With this in mind, anotherimportance of a site map it tells the search engine instantly togo to a specifc page rather than scouting through the links.
Two important questions: 1. Will the website appear as it wasplanned even for robots? 2. Are the pages exact and effectivelydesigned? Having a site map assists the creator in planning thesite before he can even start creating it. Once the pages havebeen decided, the whole thing becomes simpler and the web pagesdesigns are easily matched to the creator's ideas.
There are 5 important tips in making a good site map:
Good Site Must-Have 1 The logo should be linked to the websitehomepage.
Good Site Must-Have 2 The Site map must be place either on topor on the upper left, under the header. Unless everything's inorder already and sure about the design, never try to alter ormake changes for a while.
Good Site Must-Have 3 There must be a congenial way to go aroundsearching the web site. Do not place the site map in a locationthat is different from one page to another, like if it is placedhorizontally on one page, it should be placed horizontally onthe rest of the other pages. However, the case is different ifit is a navigation system for a homepage. This could differ inhomepages.
Good Site Must-Have 4 Additionally, the logo of the homepageshould be linked with a "HOME" or any equivalent sign for easywork around or navigation. There should also be a "contact us,""about our site," pages to be visited.
Good Site Must-Have 5 The golden rule for a good site map isthat the number of a visitor's clicks should be leading himevery step of the way and not jumping to other pages. It isrequired that the move should be as easy, reliable and aboveall, very user-friendly.
About the author:Jeremiah Patton has been currently using sitemaps for easynavigation for visitors and for better crawling from searchengines. Jeremiah Patton uses a sitemap for his work at homemoms website http://www.2ndincome4u.com with great success.
