From time to time, search engines can get a bit lost – when it comes to indexing pages. They may have a problem with understanding complex links or ones that are not written out correctly. What ever the reason, you can lend them a hand. This is also one of the important parts of SEO and you should take the time to do it.
Creating a site map
Site Maps are a standard format file for informing search engines about the location of your sites pages. It is not something you hand write yourself but there are online services that will create them for you. See sites like…
These sites offer a free service but there will be limitations, such as the number of pages indexed etc.
Once the site map has been created and downloaded, you need to transfer it to your site with an FTP program. It is easier to name the file something like ‘sitemap.xml’ and upload it to the root directory of your site.
Telling the search engines
If you have not done so already, register an account at Google Webmaster Tools. Once you have verified your site you can upload a site map. If should only take a short while for it to be checked and accepted.
The Bing search engine can use the same XML file. Create an account at Webmaster Central, follow the steps required to verify your site and register your site map file. I found that Bing took a much longer time to pass the file than Google did.
Yahoo has Site Explorer. You need to register your site and verify it before you can go on to adding the site map. Again, easy to do but site statistics can take a long time to appear, just like Bing.
RSS feeds as site maps
As you can see in the pictures above for Yahoo site explorer and Google Webmaster, you can include an RSS feed. You still need to add a site map XML file to ensure the search engine knows about all the pages. This is especially true if this is the first time registering.
Stats and more
Google, Bing and Yahoo can also provide statistics on your site. Information on page clicks, keywords, position in search results and more. It is worth spending time registering on these sites so you can access some really useful information.
