Will the real sitemap please stand up?

Sitemaps. Every webmaster and probably every site owner has heard of them, but only a few A) know that there are in fact two different types of sitemaps and B) fully understand what they do and don't accomplish.

Let's examine the first point. According to Google Webmaster Blog, "There's a difference between a (usually HTML) site map built to help humans navigate around your site, and an XML Sitemap built for search engines." An HTML sitemap can be seen here. These are pages that organize your content so that visitors can find what they're looking for more quickly. The XML version is (usually) not publicly visible, as its purpose is to help search engine spiders, not people, explore the site's content. See an example of XML sitemap coding and protocol details here. Multi-page sites should implement both types to ensure convenience for all visitors, both human and robot.

Now for the second point. A common misconception is that the XML sitemaps ensure regular crawling, thorough indexing, and better rankings. At the Chicago conference that Rose and Mike attended last December, one site owner complained, "I've submitted a sitemap to the engines but I haven't been crawled or indexed yet! What gives??" Expectant faces were turned toward the experts panel, suggesting that his problem is not an uncommon one.

According to Google Webmaster Central, "Submitting a Sitemap helps you make sure Google knows about the URLs on your site. It can be especially helpful if your content is not easily discoverable by our crawler (such as pages accessible only through a form). It is not, however, a guarantee that those URLs will be crawled or indexed. We use information from Sitemaps to augment our usual crawl and discovery processes... A Sitemap does not affect the actual ranking of your pages. However, if it helps get more of your site crawled (by notifying us of URLs we didn't previously know about, and/or by helping us prioritize the URLs on your site), that can lead to increased presence and visibility of your site in our index."

The bottom line is that sitemap creation and maintenance is not a substitute for other good SEO practices, such as keyword rich content, carefully chosen meta data, and relevant links. They're an asset, but not the final word in SEM success.

-R. Keefe