Is XML Sitemap even needed today?

N

Netvertiser

Registered Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2013
Messages
60
Reaction score
7
I am revamping our old site and I am thinking what to do with the XML sitemap. When they introduced it I just used an XML sitemap generator for a while and then forgot about it. The only useful feature if at all IMO is the option to set how important a certain page on the site is. Yet even this one seems silly.

Google at the end of the day decides what is and what isn't important no matter what we deem important in our sitemaps. If it can find and crawl my pages on its own it will index them. If not, then why bother using a sitemap - pages that can't be found are worthless anyway. To the user and with that to Google as well.

So... do I need an XML sitemap to bother Google with or is that just some thing of the past today, just like meta keywords are.
 
Advertise on BHW
XML sitemaps are very important (and recommended by Google). You have to create one for your website and then submit it in Google Webmaster Tools. It efficiently tells Google where all your pages are. You could wait for Google to crawl your entire site, but it does so on its own sweet time and may not crawl every single page. Why take the risk?
 
Yes , google still recommends to use XML sitemaps. It helps to notify google crawlers about your pages in your website.
 
Can you recommand me an good sitemap plugin for wordpress ? I have one, submited to goole, but it said i have only 9 pages...but i have over 20
 
positivcriss said:
Can you recommand me an good sitemap plugin for wordpress ? I have one, submited to goole, but it said i have only 9 pages...but i have over 20
Click to expand...

I use this plugin. Haven't had any issues yet.
Code: 
http://wordpress.org/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/
 
The best way to get goofle to index your site is to use the xml sitemap, submit it to goofle, and do a fetch as goofle bot.

This will get your site indexed instantly.

The best way I have found is to go to

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

create a sitemap, then simply upload it to your hosting account.

I use the html map for my visitors, and leave the xml for Goofle

My experience is that plugins are not reliable in this matter.
 
Yoast SEO Plugin do the work. I use it without any problem and looks like the crawler comes daily to check my new added articles.

Your sitemap should be www.website.com/anyname.xml .. Then add it to google webmaster tool. This is all to it. Everytimy you added a new article yoursitemap will get updated---> webmaster tool knows ---> site get crawled
 
So in short, we use the http://www.xml-sitemaps.com, put the PHP script in cronjob and the thing will autogenerate the XML sitemap daily so nothing is missing?

I add 10 new pages to the site and the last thing I need is some manual sitemap generating and uploading ever day. This has to be automated.
 
Techxan said:
The best way to get goofle to index your site is to use the xml sitemap, submit it to goofle, and do a fetch as goofle bot.

This will get your site indexed instantly.

The best way I have found is to go to

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

create a sitemap, then simply upload it to your hosting account.

I use the html map for my visitors, and leave the xml for Goofle

My experience is that plugins are not reliable in this matter.
Click to expand...

Much better answer ! The best way to do is generate XML via the site and then upload it to your root folder. And then submit the xml to google via GWT.
 
Sitemaps are not must, even if you dont upload one, google will still find and crawl links, but it is a way to tell preferred pages of your site to crawl...
 
It depends on the size of your site and frequency of updates. If you have a small website with 10 pages and you usually do not add new pages: a Sitemap can help but the gain is negligible. If you have a large site (+100, or +1000 pages) with new pages added daily, you need a Sitemap properly set up and updated daily.
 
Actually, it's mentioned in google faq that sitemap does not help ranking, but it helps google to crawl through pages that is not 'accessible' through the linkage, and thus help google to better index and discover your site.

With these extra indexing, and if your 'hidden' page has good content, then it certainly helps. Else, it's just a matter of one more page indexed at google.
 
Just a question, should XML sitemaps be updated every day?
My site has new content every day, around 100-200 articles in each day, should I update the XML sitemaps?

Strangely, on my big sites I found that Google crawls faster than my XML sitemap, but on small-medium sites the XML sitemap works better.
 
sitemap is the guide or road for search engine spider. Have it better than nothing.
 
In my example: 7kk item pages, 50k new every day, sitemap is a must for fast indexation.

If you have 50 pages, then why even bother? U can use "Fetch as Google" option in WMT, page will be indexed instantly (10 secs).
 
Sitemaps help inform search engines about pages on a site that are available for crawling. A sitemap is typically an XML file that lists URLs for a site along with additional metadata about each URL so that search engines can more intelligently crawl the site.
 
Yes. Of course. Site map will help your SERP tracking and impression your keywords. And more thing your page also faster index in Google + Bing. Cheers Thanks :)
 
Of course, it's exceedingly important. Updating XML Sitemap, then Google will index your site and other new contents.
 
Advertise on BHW
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sign up now!

Main Menu

Home Main Forum List Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO BHW Newbie Guide Blogging Black Hat Tools Social Media Downloads

Marketplace

Account Selling Content / Copywriting EBooks / Methods Hosting Misc Proxies For Sale SEO - Link building SEO - Packages Social Media Social Media - Panels Web Design More

Making Money

Affiliate Programs Hire a Freelancer IM Journeys Making Money Pay Per Click Site Flipping Want to Buy

BlackHat World

Dispute Resolution Forum Suggestions & Feedback Introductions Lounge
Back
Top