First thing’s first: there’s a difference between sitemap (with a little “s”) and a Sitemap (with a big “S”). A sitemap (little “s”) is a page on your website that helps people find particular pages. A Sitemap (big “s”) is a file on your website in a special format that tells search engines where all of your pages are on the site. Think little “s” for site page and big “S” for search engines. It helps me, at least 
When your site has a functional Sitemap that has been appropriately submitted to search engines, all of your pages will be “seen” and indexed by the search engine. Why is this important? Well, first of all you WANT your website and pages to show up in searches. Second, often the search engine will miss pages if you are using dynamic content. This is especially true if you are using Flash or AJAX for major parts of your website.
Google uses a protocol called “Sitemap 0.9″ and so should you. A simple sample would be something like this:
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″? >
<urlset xmlns=”http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9″>
<url >
<loc >http://www.creativecontentexperts.com/</loc>
<changefreq >weekly</changefreq>
<priority >1.0</priority>
</url>
</urlset>
Notice how each set is opened and closed completely. This is a very important part of any Sitemap and is easy to miss.
A Sitemap is also in XML format, in case that wasn’t obvious. For those new to XML, this is simply a markup language that allows you to create your own “rules.” The full use and potential for XML on your website is beyond the scope of this blog, but it’s worth researching and understanding if you will be working with a Sitemap much.
A Sitemap can make or break how search engines “see” and index your website. Don’t put your fate in the hands of software. At my firm Creative Content Experts, we can help you develop your own Sitemap, submit it to Google, and validate the Sitemap to make sure Google sees your site the way you want it to see it.
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automated link manager…
1. I am a total newbie to the ways of the internet. I’m in the process of building a website for my vacation rental home here in Ajijic, Mexico. One of my action items is that once the website is up, I need to get relevant links.
Relevant links can be tough to get, especially at first. The key is to write quality content. Keep it specific and provide your readers with excellent material and you’ll start to get comments and feedback. Best of luck!
Hello, I can’t understand how to add your blog ( jpmgmt.com ) in my rss reader
Thanks for your interest! Is the RSS Subscribe button at the top of the page not working for you?
Thanks again!
great blog! Good point about the Sitemap and sitemap difference.