Sitemaps and total confusion

[sally]

Need help with understanding sitemaps please ... when I first launched the site I added an xml sitemap .... I can see it on the sitemap url ( http://www.country-couples.co.uk/sitemap.xml ) but can I as hell find it in my files ... although google webmastertools finds it no problem.

Being a dunce I thought it updated itself when I update the site and I have done masses of work since I created the site, adding a few hundred pages.

So my questions are:

1) I have 3 Sitemaps .. one for the site and two for the blogs .. should I only have one for the whole kit and kaboodle as they are all part of the same domain or keep the 3?

2) Do I have to make new ones every now and again and replace the old one? If so how?

3) A lot of my pages are no follow/no index on the main site, so if I get google to generate the Sitemap will it exclude the no index pages?

4) As you can see from the link, it's just an ugly code .. if I add a link to my site can I add a css or something to make it look pretty for users?

[accountantpete]

Hi Sally - whenever I have enquired on a similar thread the reply has been that sitemaps should be used if they are useful to users. The google bit just means that they can ensure all pages are indexed but doesn't really make any difference.

So I would say put a css sitemap in for the whole domain and then update it every month.

[JessyMeyer]

Do i need a sitemap file, if i use search engine friendly urls? I have a sitemap page, just for user, but not a xml file.
many thanks,
jessy

[BarryGrant77]

Hi Sally,

basically a sitemap file (xml for crawler) is required if you use long dynamical urls, session id's or dynamical content. If the crawler couldn't find all sites you should include a sitemap.xml file.

Normally a web crawler finds more than he usally should. I made a quick check on your website and everything looks fine. There is a freeware tool called 'Xenu' (simulates web crawler) it shows you broken links, server response and many more useful details.

Further a sitemap file can be useful to tell the crawler(bot) how often you change the content (e.g: in blogs) parameter ''<changefreq>". Some blogs have an included function, where a new updated sitemap will be submitted to searchengines after you create a new post. A couple of hours (sometimes minutes) later you can see the bot visiting your site and afterwards the new content appears in the index.

In your case, i would recommend to have only 1 sitemap.xml file for blog(s), website, because all is under the same domain. Further you can change the 'changefreq' may be into monthly, because you don't really update the content on a daily base.

If you have further questions, please let me know.

Cheers,
Barry

[BarryGrant77]

Hi Jessy,

if you use SE friendly URL's you normally don't need a sitemap.xml file. Normally because sometimes there are cases where a sitemap.xml file could support and help the bot indexing all sites. Otherwise the bot will find your sitemap page and all included links as well.

cheers,
Barry

[Barry]

Creating an xml sitemap for google enables (hypothetically) you to set a page 'priority' for every page on your site giving google an indication of how important the url/page is compared to others on your site. You can also set a change frequency telling google how often you expect the page to change so it could revisit at intervals recommended by the webmaster. It also allows you to include pages that other wise would not be spidered as they have no links going to it.

You cannot use a sitemap to increase you rankings in google, a sitemap compliments the normal crawling of google bot.

Its worth having one, but its in no way important to have.

Ta

Baz

[bennetm3]

If you are going to use a XML sitemap, it's also worth submitting it to Google rather than just waiting for it to be picked up. You can submit it via the Google webmaster tools.

[sally]

Hi Barry

Thank you for your input. The blogs have a plugin that updates the sitemaps each time I post and it generates an excellent sitemapr for users which makes it so easy to find posts .. would therefore like to keep them if it isn't going to confuse search engines.

It's the one for the main site I am having problems with. I just don't know what to include, the original one was auto generated so included stuff like random members profiles which obviously are now coming up in google tools as warnings - not found. I have removed everything but the basic pages I want the spiders to visit but now there doesn't seem to be much of a site to visit.

I am thinking I could copy my links page and use that format to create a sitemap page for the main site. Would that help or does it have to be an xlm file?

I shall look in the blogs to see if I change the frequency thingy, thanks for spotting that.

[jones1982]

Do i need a sitemap file, if i use search engine friendly urls? I have a sitemap page, just for user, but not a xml file.
many thanks,
jessy

A sitemap is a representation of the architecture of a web site. It can be either a document in any form used as a planning tool for web design, or a web page that lists the pages on a web site, typically organized in hierarchical fashion. This helps visitors and search engine bots find pages on the site.

[meader83]

can anyone recommend a good xml sitemap generator (free or paid) for dynamic cotent?