If you want to find out how to create a sitemap for reasons such as more traffic, better search engine rankings, or to submit to the search engines, then keep reading.
What Is A Sitemap?
A sitemap, although you may think it is more complicated, is simply just a page listing all the links or pages that make up your website.
These links are not outbound, they are links that represent your website.
If you don’t have a sitemap on your website, you need to start learning how to make one right now.
Why Do You Need A Sitemap?
The benefit of having a sitemap for your website is that it offers great benefits in the search optimization department.
Here are some very valid points on why you need a sitemap for your website.
Easy Navigation Help
Some people just have the talent or misfortune for getting lost on websites no matter how brilliantly the site is designed. But these people are still potential consumers and you won’t want to risk losing them.
With a sitemap, these people won’t experience trouble looking for the right link because all of the links are already listed in your sitemap. One click and they will find what they are looking for.
Accessibility
There are of course other alternatives than sitemaps, alternatives that may appear more attractive and sophisticated.
Such qualities, however, are not always favorable and sometimes even end up as an impediment. It’s alright to offer your visitors screen readers, Flash animation maps, and other assistive technologies, but offer them right alongside your good old sitemap because sometimes simplicity works best!
Search Engine Optimization
Earlier on, we mentioned how sitemaps are good for SEO benefits, too. This is because sitemaps spell out links in a way that search engine spiders can best understand them. This is especially true if your website has dynamic content, a huge archive, and pages that may not be easily located by search engine spiders.
A sitemap is also the best way to introduce a new website to search engine spiders. Sitemaps also let search engine spiders know how often your website is updated, and also the importance of all the pages in your website.
How To Create A Sitemap For Even Better Traffic
The Old Fashioned Way:
Step 1:
Either write or type a list of links that make up your website. Check that all your links are written down correctly, as you don’t want any malfunctioning or repeated links in your sitemap later on.
Step 2:
Open a new document or file in your preferred text-editing program. Copy the list you’ve created with your word processor and paste it into the document in your text-editing program. Start encoding it in the appropriate language, save your document, then preview it in your Internet browser.
Step 3:
Click on each link to make sure that everything on the page is in working order. If so, you can then upload it to your website and you’ve got yourself a sitemap!
Creating a sitemap, based on the instructions provided above is easy. But how to create a sitemap for traffic requires a bit more effort on your part. Consider the following suggestions:
Let people you know have a sitemap
Your sitemap won’t be much help if people aren’t aware it exists in the first place. Let them know about your sitemap by posting a strategically positioned and highly visible link on every page on your website.
Don’t make your sitemap too fancy
People don’t need you to be fancy when you’re offering help. What they need from you is effectiveness and efficiency. Use basic text links instead of making your sitemap unnecessarily dynamic.
Update your website Table of Contents
If you have one, remember to include a link to your sitemap! Always double-check links.
Last, but not least, remember to regularly check the links in your sitemap to make certain that they’re active.
Ok now let me tell you there are easier ways how to create a sitemap for your website.
If you have a WordPress blog you have many plugins available to you that are free to use and that will generate automatic sitemaps for your website. I use Yoast, which you can read more about in this post.
Here are some fresh ideas from Matt on how to create a sitemap for your website.
You can also grab some great free training on building your website and sitemap. I use this company to help me with all my website-building needs.
