Friday, July 01, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Google Sitemaps: Will it impact your web site's ranking on Google?
 Rick Breslin, co-founder and CEO of Drive Thru Designs, Inc., comments on the recent launch of Google's XML SiteMaps Protocol, explains the benefits, and disspells the myths.
As you may have heard, on June 2, 2005, Google launched it's beta version of Google Sitemaps, their new crawling utility that "enables you to communicate directly with Google" to send updates of web site structure and content changes. There has been a decent amount of buzz in the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) community, with SEO's clammering to gain any competitive edge in their Google listings.
What does this mean to you (and your web site)? It basically means you have the opportunity to make sure your web pages listed in Google reflect the most recent descriptions and content. It does NOT ensure a higher ranking in Google’s search index, or magically make your web site appear at the top of your targeted SERP’s (Search Engine Results Pages). What it will do is make sure that every one of your web site’s pages are included in Google’s index, and if your web site content is written correctly, you may enjoy some additional exposure.
The downside to this new initiative: You will begin to see a great deal of SEO advertisements, blogs, and good old spam telling web site owners/administrators that they absolutely need this XML document in their web site root directory (in order to be listed in Google). This is not true. While I’m a big fan of capitalism, I’m not a big fan of scaring clients (or potential clients) just to generate more work or leads. However, it is a good idea to inform Google of web site updates, and this is an easy way to accomplish just that.
My advice: Use one of the free tools that have popped up over the recent weeks to create your Google Sitemap XML document, and upload it into your web site root directory (name the file “sitemap.xml” or zip the file with “Gzip” and name it “sitemap.gz”). You will also need to submit this Sitemap XML file to Google, after registering for a Google Sitemaps account.
Here are a few resources to generate your web site’s XML Sitemap:
Google SiteMaps:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps
Sitemaps XML Protocal:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/docs/en/protocol.html
Softplus GsiteCrawler:
http://johannesmueller.com/gs/
SiteMaps Pal: (maximum of 1000 URLs)
http://www.sitemapspal.com
My-Google-Sitemap.com
http://www.my-google-sitemap.com/google-sitemap.asp
So, happy indexing! And good luck with your SERP’s!
Drive Thru Designs, Inc. provides affordable, professional web solutions to small businesses at a lower cost than traditional consulting firms. Specializing in usability, interface design, and user-friendly content management tools, Drive Thru Designs, Inc. allows small businesses a competitive advantage against larger competitors.
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