Search Engine Optimization And Google XML Sitemaps

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

Search engine optimization is a process of ensuring each web page has been optimized to gain highest position possible in the search results pages. A web page is often only one of many that makes up a complete site. A sitemap is created to tell the search engines exactly which pages make up your site and how often they should be revisited due to updates.

The sitemap is written using the ‘XML’ markup language as it provides a structured, agreed standard that most search engines can read. XML allows the option to include more information about individual URLs, such as when it was last updated and how often the page changes. If your website consists of more than one page then a sitemap update should be considered as part of your structured search engine optimization program.

What If I Don’t Use A Sitemap?
To clear up one point – you do not have to have a sitemap. Search engines will eventually visit your site and if you have a well structured navigation system in place they will eventually read an index every page. If your search engine optimization strategies have created a lot of inbound links then the search engines will also follow them to your site.

I do however emphasize the word eventually. If you want your website spidered and indexed more quickly, then creating and submitting a sitemap is a must. A good search engine optimization strategy will never rely on an ‘eventually’ scenario.

Telling The Search Engines
The advantage of creating an XML sitemap is that you can submit them to Google through the Google Webmaster Tools. Using the Google Webmaster Tools you can see when Google last read your sitemap and whether or not it found any errors or problems with spidering your site. Your search engine optimization strategies rely on getting your pages spidered regularly – if there are problems you need to be able to fix them quickly.

Search engine optimization is the process of readying your site for the search engine spiders. The sitemap tells the search engines what and how often to spider your site.