WaratahWeb Blog

Sitemaps for Usability and Visibility
Friday, January 02, 2009

I'm often asked about sitemaps and why/when you would include them on a website, so here's an explanation...

There are two types of sitemaps that you can incorporate on your website:

1. HTML sitemap - Basically a page on your site displaying your website categories and each page as a hyperlink (excluding those contained in a secure zone). This type of sitemap provides users with an alternative way to navigate your site and can help them find the information they need quickly.
2. XML sitemap - This is a way for you to give the search engines information about your site. It ensures the search engines know about every page on your site; particularly useful for websites with dynamic content such as Bloomkit. An XML Sitemap will also serve the purpose of providing the search engines with additional information such as how often your pages are updated, the date each page was last modified and the relative importance of pages on your site.

Bloomkit customers can easily create both types of sitemaps in the admin area.

TO SETUP A HTML SITEMAP IN BLOOMKIT:

Firstly create a new page for your sitemap, then you can either:

a) Enter your sitemap content manually on the page, or
b) Use the Sitemap module:  Modules > Sitemap and then insert the module on the page. The Sitemap Module allows you to organise your pages by dragging & dropping them into a hierarchy. When the Sitemap is inserted on the page using the module, you can customise it further by deleting any pages you don't want to have appear in the list (such as pages you have excluded from search results or those in a secure zone).

Note: When you add new pages to your website in future, don't forget to include them on your sitemap page manually, or reinsert the sitemap via the module.

TO GENERATE AN XML SITEMAP IN BLOOMKIT:

Go to Admin > Google/Yahoo/Live Optimisation and click the "Enable Optimization" button. The Sitemap will be generated automatically and appended to your site. You can check the XML sitemap by typing "/sitemap.xml" after your domain name in your browser address bar.

Be sure to contact us if you need any assistance. Happy sitemap creating!