http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/google-sitemaps.htm Recently updated or added information on Google Sitemaps from Smart-IT-Consulting.com en-us Copyright (C) 2004,2005 by smart-it-consulting.com Sat, 04 Jun 2005 18:18:14 -0400 Mon, 06 Feb 2006 16:42:03 -0500 IT Google's sitemap program provides detailed crawler reports which make it easy to fix issues like broken links, conflicts with robots.txt exclusions etc. etc. in no time. There is even a great robots.txt validator. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=101 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=101 Mon, 06 Feb 2006 16:42:03 -0500 Upd: 2006-02-06 16:42:03 Google's Sitemaps Team, interviewed in January 2006, provides great insights and information about the Sitemaps program, crawling and indexing in general, handling of vanished pages (404 vs. 410) and the URL removal tool, and valuable assistance on many frequently asked questions. Matt Cutts chimed in and stated '...It's definitely a good idea to join Sitemaps so that you can be on the ground floor and watch as Sitemaps improves'. This interview is a must-read for Webmasters. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=135 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=135 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 10:09:16 -0500 Upd: 2006-02-01 10:09:16 Should I include all URLs in my sitemap, even feeds, images, videos and other Web objects without META data? Will a Google Sitemap help to get framed pages indexed? Should I submit thin pages via Google Sitemaps or would this hurt? http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=130 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=130 Thu, 26 Jan 2006 11:54:45 -0500 Upd: 2006-01-26 11:54:45 I have a site hosted under two domains, example.com and example.net, can I have a Google Sitemap on both servers, or should I consolidate the site's various addresses? I want to consolidate several brands with Web sites hosted on separate domains and sub-domains on my main site, now I need a checklist. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=129 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=129 Thu, 12 Jan 2006 07:00:03 -0500 Upd: 2006-01-12 07:00:03 The free Python Google sitemap generator can be used to create Google Sitemaps in XML format by walking the file system on the web server and scanning access logs. It requires Python version 2.2 (or compatible newer versions) installed on your server. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=128 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=128 Wed, 11 Jan 2006 09:00:01 -0500 Upd: 2006-01-11 09:00:01 Declined submissions and error messages like URL not under Sitemap path are often caused by an incorrect usage of multiple server names. Why are example.com and www.example.com different, when both serve the same content? How to avoid confusion? http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=127 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=127 Tue, 03 Jan 2006 00:07:06 -0500 Upd: 2006-01-03 00:07:06 Googlebot downloads my XML sitemap frequently, but didn't crawl and index all pages of my Web site yet. What can I do to improve my search engine visibility? http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=126 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=126 Mon, 19 Dec 2005 12:33:30 -0500 Upd: 2005-12-19 12:33:30 My Google Sitemap submission was accepted but I can't find (all) my Web pages with a site:example.com search. Why doesn't Google index my Web site (completely)? http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=125 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=125 Mon, 19 Dec 2005 07:19:48 -0500 Upd: 2005-12-19 07:19:48 By default, XML-based sitemaps are not human readable - the browser just renders a big bunch of XML code and pure data. To make your sitemap look like a normal HTML webpage, you just have to add one line to your Google Sitemaps file, that's all. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=124 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=124 Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:04:35 -0500 Upd: 2005-12-16 08:04:35 Although Google dominates search, I'd like to get the most out of my efforts to create and maintain a Google Sitemap. Are there other search engines which accept mass URL submissions via XML sitemaps? Yes. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=123 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=123 Thu, 15 Dec 2005 09:59:55 -0500 Upd: 2005-12-15 09:59:55 I've moved my site to a new domain. Can I submit a Sitemap to tell Google to index the new site rather than the old site? What else should I do to ensure a smoothly move? http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=122 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=122 Thu, 15 Dec 2005 09:10:07 -0500 Upd: 2005-12-15 09:10:07 How blog networks, (free) hosting services, and communities where each user publishes on a different sub-domain, can provide a centralized Google Sitemap service. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=121 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=121 Wed, 14 Dec 2005 17:15:44 -0500 Upd: 2005-12-14 17:15:44 Browse the index or use the site search to find the topic related to your Google Sitemaps question. If the short answer isn't enough, follow the links to more detailed information. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=120 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=166&page=120 Wed, 14 Dec 2005 16:23:21 -0500 Upd: 2005-12-14 16:23:21 Breaking up the anatomy of the Google Sitemaps submission process leads to a time table, and answers a lot of related questions. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=118 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=118 Mon, 05 Dec 2005 09:37:21 -0500 Upd: 2005-12-05 09:37:21 No, Google Sitemaps are are just (mass) URL submissions. If you feel comfortable using Google's add-url form to submit your URLs, you can submit an XML sitemap too. In any case you should care what you're submitting. Junk submissions from your site may have impact on search engine placements of clean pages. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=115 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=115 Mon, 21 Nov 2005 01:19:56 -0500 Upd: 2005-11-21 01:19:56 If your particular question wasn't answered, submit it here. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=116 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=116 Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:47:35 -0500 Upd: 2005-11-14 17:47:35 Depends. Before you look for a tool, work out a sitemap strategy suitable for your Web site. Choosing a tool sets the procedure to create and maintain the sitemaps in stone, thus make a good decision in the first place. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=113 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=113 Thu, 10 Nov 2005 09:38:36 -0500 Upd: 2005-11-10 09:38:36 No, Google Sitemaps enhance a site's crawlability, which is a good thing as part of a long-term SEO strategy, but even perfectly crawlable sites can get 'sandboxed'. To escape Google's probation period (a.k.a. 'sandbox') you must tweak other factors. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=112 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=112 Wed, 02 Nov 2005 10:55:09 -0500 Upd: 2005-11-02 10:55:09 The time to index counted from the Google Sitemaps submission may range from a few hours to never. For Web sites in pretty good shape Google's time to index usually doesn't exceed two days. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=111 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=111 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 10:39:14 -0500 Upd: 2005-11-01 10:39:14 No, Google Sitemaps is a robots inclusion protocol lacking any syntax for deletions. Remove deleted URLs in the XML file, and ensure your server responds 404 or 410 to Googlebot. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=110 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=110 Sat, 29 Oct 2005 14:40:32 -0400 Upd: 2005-10-29 14:40:32 The official answer is no, PageRank adjustments are unrelated to Google Sitemaps. The inofficial answer is depends, in some cases Google Sitemap submissions can have impact on PageRank calculations. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=109 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=109 Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:50:42 -0400 Upd: 2005-10-28 12:50:42 What Google Sitemaps is all about: Aimed crawling makes Google's search results fresh, and Webmasters happy. http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=108 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=163&page=108 Fri, 28 Oct 2005 11:47:27 -0400 Upd: 2005-10-28 11:47:27 Web sites without an underlying database and many smaller sites can't work with the dynamic approach to fully automate the Google SiteMaps channel outlined here, so here you go ... http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=41 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=41 Mon, 22 Aug 2005 04:00:00 -0400 Upd: 2005-08-22 04:00:00 What is a Google SiteMap and how can this service work for you? http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=35 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=35 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 How the communication between Google and the web site owner works http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=38 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=38 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 How to populate the sitemap.xml file honestly, and nevertheless getting the most value out of its submission to Google http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=39 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=39 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 Make your sitemap.xls file dynamic to ensure it delivers your recent changes whenever it is fetched by Google's bot http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=37 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=37 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 How to submit your sitemap to Google and how to inform Googlebot about new and changed content http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=36 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=36 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 Ensure your web site is in a pretty good shape before you submit a sitemap http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=55 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=55 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 About site owners influencing Google's rankings via sitemaps and other fictions http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=42 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=42 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 Read here what webmasters have to say about their experiences with Google Sitemap, starting with the first announcement http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=40 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=40 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 If you prefer to buy your Google Sitemaps implementation, instead of bothering with many technical details... http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=60 http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/article.htm?node=133&page=60 Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:20:05 -0400 Upd: 2005-07-08 10:20:05 Everything you need to know about Google Sitemaps: free tools, information, updates, professional services, guides, articles, FAQ, knowledge base ... http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/google-sitemaps.htm http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/google-sitemaps.htm Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:18:56 -0500 Upd: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:18:56 -0500 Validate your uncompressed Google XML Sitemap or sitemap index file here for free http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/internet/google/submit-validate-sitemap/ http://www.smart-it-consulting.com/internet/google/submit-validate-sitemap/ Thu, 09 Jun 2005 12:11:34 -0400 Upd: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 12:11:34 -0400