In any Internet marketing activity, the best thing to accomplish is to keep a good linkage and to always stay indexed. There are many ways available to you online to have your web site indexed and crawled. Using site maps is a way you can develop to inform your visitors about how to navigate and to make sure that your site is up to date in the Internet and search engine database.

What is a site map?

A site map of a website is similar to the table of contents of a book. Site maps are important because it guides web surfers to the particular part of the website they have a point of interest in. With it they would save time following links and get right to the point instead.

A site map basically is a page that features or lists the links you have on your web site. This will make it easier for both visitors and search engines to navigate, proceed and spider your web site.

Site maps are also where search engines look at if somebody is looking for a particular keyword or phrase. If you have a site map, you can most likely be searched.

Why is site map important and what purpose does it serve?

There are certain benefits in having a good HTML site map. This generally would assure any potential customer to easily navigate the site, find exactly what they came to look for. The site map page will serve as a tool for your visitors. This way they will opt to visit your site more if they can easily browse and find their way in your web site. Since a site map displays all the links to information found in a website, it helps the user to search for a particular topic in mind. Many users also use the site map to navigate between pages in a site. It can also ensure that your visitors can very well stay in your web site.

Good links will also ensure you that spiders will locate your web site easily. This will make your site indexed by the important search engines online. This will also avoid your site from being dropped.

However, HTML site maps may serve more important purpose than merely as another link to click on. The specific purpose you should consider in having a site map is to make it easier for search engine robots to ‘crawl’ in your web site. Pages located by search engines through ‘crawling’. It is a process that goes through the index of a page, following the links and adding the pages to the database.

A site map like any other map gives directions to a navigator. It primarily targets search engine spiders so that they are properly directed to your site and to the links where keywords entered in the search dialogue appears. As such, it is actually a useful tool in search engine optimization. A well organized site map would guide the spider to find the information it needs when keywords are entered during a search operation.

The problem would come in when search engines fail to locate the page because links are not that accessible. It is the site map that will address this dilemma. Search engines will be given access to the different links in your web site simply by following the site map in your home page.

What are the benefits of having a site map for my website?

1. No page would be left unturned

Going back to the purpose of site maps, having one would mean faster and easier tracking and crawling of spiders all over your site. As a result, search engines would surely get to the view all the pages of your site and not just the pages containing random keywords.

2. Easier navigation for site visitors

Once a web user has accessed your site map, they need not go back to the search engine page to look for what they need. If what they are looking for is in your site, then they would have an easier and faster way of locating it.

3. Potential advertising value

If it so happens that a relevant product or service company reaches your site, then it would be easier for them to see how best they can position themselves in the different pages of your site as a paid page advertisement.

4. Encourage greater traffic to your site

If your company website has a site map then potential buyers would have an easier time in accessing your latest products and services. Moreover, they would not miss out on any product that might be off future interest to them since the site map would display all information found the site.

How are site maps formatted?

There are at least three major types of site maps: indexed, full categorical, and restricted categorical. An indexed site map appears as an alphabetical listing or directory.
A full categorical map displays all links classified into categories; while a restricted categorical site map displays all links listed in a chosen category at a time. The full and restricted site maps are very similar except that the former displays all links in all categories all at once in a page, while the latter focuses only the links under the selected category for easier and less eye-straining viewing.

The most widely used format is the full categorical. Based on the results of a 1999 SURL study on site map designs, the full categorical format is most preferred by users since it is easier to search for topics within the site and it allows easier comparison between and among categories.

Here are some important pointers in creating your HTML site map:

1. Link the site map only to your homepage.
This is to ensure that the spider starts searching from your homepage down to all the pages listed in your site map. In this way, no page would be left unvisited by the spider.

2. Do not go beyond 30 pages for a site map.
Large websites having 50 or more pages should not go beyond 30 since this adds more pages to the site, and might make search engines think that the site map is a link farm. Also, this prevents overcrowding of links which could be tiring to view.

3. Check all the links listed in your site map.
It can be discouraging when you click on a link only to find out that nothing is displayed. Test your site map; click all links in every page to make sure that all links are indeed linked to the right page.

4. Give keyword-rich titles to site map links.
Keyword-rich titles give your site more advantage in being searched properly under the right category. But be sure to have this site map link linked back to the site map (e.g. back to site map).

5. Provide a short description for the links in the site map.
Doing so would give readers a better idea of what to find in the link and save them time on surfing.

6. Consistent Designing.
Employ a recurring design and the same HTML template for all pages to establish identity and build character to your website.

Site map is vital to a website. People search the web a lot for something. If your website has what that particular person is looking for, and your site map reports it, then you have a new customer looking at your items. Not only that, they will see some other things up for sale that they might be interested in as well.

You have learned basic things about site maps, maybe it is time for you to build one for your site.