Sitemaps are invaluable aids in getting your website properly indexed by [tag]Google[/tag], [tag]Yahoo[/tag], [tag]MSN[/tag] and many other search engines. But the more you know about [tag]sitemap[/tag] protocols, the more effective your sitemaps will be.

The sitemap protocol was created to inform search engines of the URLs on your website that are available for crawling, and thus cataloging.

Sitemaps are particularly useful when certain pages of a website are unreachable via standard links, such as page only accessible through a search form.

Let’s start out by talking about the most common sitemap files used today.

1) XML Sitemaps - By placing a formatted xml file with a site map of your website on your web server, you enable [tag]search engine[/tag] crawlers (like Google) to find out what pages are present and which have recently changed, and to crawl your site accordingly. Google started using XML sitemaps as part of it’s crawling process in late 2005. While Google states that using an [tag]XML sitemap[/tag] won’t give you any advantage over those that don’t, it is important to recognize that proper cataloging of your site by the search engines is a distinct advantage in itself. ROR Sitemaps (ROR - Resources of a Resource), an independent XML format for describing any object of your content in a generic fashion makes it easier for any search engine can better understand your content. That means that including both a “sitemap.xml” file and an “ror.xml” file is an important step in providing accurate information to all search engines.

2) Text (TXT) Sitemaps - A text (TXT) sitemap is a plain text file that lists all of the URLs of your website that are available for crawling. Yahoo make sue of such a file, which must be called “urllist.txt” and be placed at the root level of your web server. Yahoo may also be using the XML protocol, but be sure to have the text version available until they say other wise. Even if Yahoo were to switch over to XML completely, there will probably be search engines that will still use the plain text format.

3) HTML Sitemap - Human readable, this was the original version of the sitemap and consists of a set of HTML links to every page on your website that is available for crawling. If you have tried to keep an HTML sitemap up-to-date by hand, you know what a problem it can be. I am sure that there are search engines out there that still rely on following links. In that case, an [tag]HTML sitemap[/tag] can help make sure that none of your links (and web pages) are missed. An additional use for an HTML sitemap si to make it available to your website visitors to aid them in locating what they are looking for on your site.

If you can upload your own sitemap pages via FTP, there is a great (and FREE) sitemap generator at http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/. If you can’t or don’t wish to handle this chore yourself, you can have your webmaster do it for you.

Monthly Google and other search engine mapping is included in the Gold Level Membership at [tag]OrangeCat.net[/tag]. If you are a Gold Level Hosting Member, OrangeCat will create sitemap.xml, ror.xml, urllist.txt, sitemap.html and sitemap.xml.gz files for you, place them on your web server and ping Google to let them know that the maps have been updated.