What purpose does a sitemap serve? A sitemap like any other mapgives directions to a navigator. It primarily targets searchengine spiders so that they are properly directed to your siteand to the links where keywords entered in the search dialogueappears. As such, it is actually a useful tool in search engineoptimization. A well organized site map would guide the spiderto find the information it needs when keywords are enteredduring a search operation.

As an additional beneficial consequence, sitemaps have proven tobe useful even to web users. Since a sitemap displays all thelinks to information found in a website, it helps the user tosearch for a particular topic in mind. Many users also use thesitemap to navigate between pages in a site.

What are the benefits of having a sitemap for my website?

1.No page would be left unturned Going back to the purpose ofsitemaps, having one would mean faster and easier tracking andcrawling of spiders all over your site. As a result, searchengines would surely get to the view all the pages of your siteand not just the pages containing random keywords.

2.Easier navigation for site visitors Once a web user hasaccessed your sitemap, they need not go back to the searchengine page to look for what they need. If what they are lookingfor is in your site, then they would have an easier and fasterway of locating it.

3.Potential advertising value If it so happens that a relevantproduct or service company reaches your site, then it would beeasier for them to see how best they can position themselves inthe different pages of your site as a paid page advertisement.

4.Encourage greater traffic to your site If your company websitehas a sitemap then potential buyers would have an easier time inaccessing your latest products and services. Moreover, theywould not miss out on any product that might be off futureinterest to them since the sitemap would display all informationfound the site.

How are sitemaps formatted? There are at least three major typesof sitemaps: indexed, full categorical, and restrictedcategorical. An indexed site map appears as an alphabeticallisting or directory. A full categorical map displays all linksclassified into categories; while a restricted categoricalsitemap displays all links listed in a chosen category at atime. The full and restricted sitemaps are very similar exceptthat the former displays all links in all categories all at oncein a page, while the latter focuses only the links under theselected category for easier and less eye-straining viewing.

The most widely used format is the full categorical. Based onthe results of a 1999 SURL study on sitemap designs, the fullcategorical format is most preferred by users since it is easierto search for topics within the site and it allows easiercomparison between and among categories.

Some tips in setting up your sitemap

1.Link the sitemap only to your homepage. This is to ensure thatthe spider starts searching from your homepage down to all thepages listed in your sitemap. In this way, no page would be leftunvisited by the spider.

2.Do not go beyond 30 pages for a sitemap. Large websites having50 or more pages should not go beyond 30 since this adds morepages to the site, and might make search engines think that thesitemap is a link farm. Also, this prevents overcrowding oflinks which could be tiring to view.

3.Check all the links listed in your sitemap. It can bediscouraging when you click on a link only to find out thatnothing is displayed. Test your sitemap; click all links inevery page to make sure that all links are indeed linked to theright page.

4.Give keyword-rich titles to sitemap links. Keyword-rich titlesgive your site more advantage in being searched properly underthe right category. But be sure to have this sitemap link linkedback to the sitemap (e.g. back to sitemap).

5.Provide a short description for the links in the sitemap.Doing so would give readers a better idea of what to find in thelink and save them time on surfing.

6.Be consistent in designing your sitemap with the other pagesof the site. Employ a recurring design and the same HTMLtemplate for all pages to establish identity and build characterto your website.

Now that you have learned basic things about sitemaps, maybe itis time for you to build one for your site.

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.