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SES
2006: Schmidt on Privacy, Proprietary Algorithms
The sensitivity of search string data is suddenly on everyone's mind due to news
of the AOL data leak on a research site this week. Search Engine Watch editor
Danny Sullivan is set to interview Google CEO Eric Schmidt in the premier event
of San Jose Search Engine Strategies show in San Jose.
SES
2006: Two Peas in a Pod: Usability and SEO
Moderated by Rebecca Lieb of ClickZ with presentations by Matt Bailey of SiteLogic
and Shari Thurow of Grantastic Designs. First up is Shari who answered questions
about usability and search.
SES
2006: Pimp That Site!
Most sites could benefit from a little nip and tuck, and when that can increase
their search engine visibility from nil to above-the-fold in the SERPs, the impact
on a site can be dramatic.
SES
2006: SE Algos: Can You Please Them All?
Search engine specialists use to spend inordinate amounts of time creating pages
that ranked well at just one search engine due to algorithmic weighting of known
and very specific ranking factors.
SES
2006: Optimizing Your Feed
This is a continuation of an earlier offering about blog and RSS feed optimization.
Because the information is dense, we thought it best to present it with another
spray of bullets. Managing editor Mike McDonald is one heck of a note-taker.
SES
2006: Google, Yahoo & MSN Research Labs
The Research Laboratories session at SES San Jose 2006 brought representatives
from the top 3 engines to talk about how projects emerge from their labs to become
actual search tools. Each offered a different perspective and each seemed to have
a differing emphasis on moving from ideas to products.
SES
2006: Search Engines, Friend Or Foe
The best thing about search engines is how they make it easy to find relevant
content out of millions of web sites; that may be the worst thing about them too.
SES
2006: Importance Of Quality Scores
Both Google and Yahoo plan to place more emphasis on quality scores when ranking
sites, and that topic quickly dominated the Search Algorithm Research session
at SES 2006. If you don't have a high-quality website right now, the search engines
may begin to drop your site in the rankings.
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08.10.06
Google XML Sitemaps - The Basics
 By
Scott Van Achte
Google XML Sitemaps have been around for a while now and many webmasters are starting
to become familiar with them.
They can help you to achieve up to date indexing in Google, and, in a round about way, play a small roll in assisting with rankings. Sitemaps are not needed by everyone, but can be of significant use for many websites. This article will touch on the basics of what they are, who can use them, and how to implement them.
What is a Google XML Sitemap?
In short a Google XML Sitemap allows webmasters to submit a master list of all their site's pages to Google for indexing. This information is stored in an XML file along with other relevant information where specified by the webmaster. It can be as simple as a list of URL's belonging to the site, or can include, last modified date, update frequency, and priority. The purpose of this Sitemap is to have the most recent version of your URL's indexed in Google at all times.
Who needs a Google XML Sitemap?
XML sitemaps can generally help any site needing to be indexed by Google; however, small sites may not see the need for this. For example, if you have a small 10 page website that seldom sees any of its pages updated and your entire site is already in Google's index, the XML Sitemap is not necessarily going to help much. It is best used when trying to keep the latest versions of your pages current in Google. Large sites with an extensive list of URL's will also benefit, especially if 100% of their pages are not appearing in the index. So a general rule of thumb, if you have either a dynamic or large site, Google XML Sitemaps just may benefit you.
Will using XML Sitemaps improve my Google Ranking?
In most cases this will not improve your rankings, however it can help. By having the most current version of your site in Google's index, this can speed up your movement in the results pages. This is because if you make an update to a page for optimization purposes, Google's index will have this page updated more quickly than without the XML sitemap. What this essentially means is that with more frequent spidering you can help influence what version of your site is in the index, and ultimately, help with rankings by decreasing response time.
How do you create the XML Sitemap?
If you have a very small site, or a lot of time on your hands you can create your XML sitemap manually, but for the vast majority of webmasters, automated tools are an absolute must. There are a number of available solutions for this. One of the simplest methods of creating XML sitemaps is through the use of VIGOS GSitemap. This is a free, easy to use tool that will help you create your XML sitemaps with ease. There are also number of downloadable and online tools listed on Google's site which cater to both beginners and seasoned professionals alike.
Submitting your XML Sitemap to Google is relatively straightforward. After the
file has been created the first thing you want to do is upload the file to your
server, preferably at the root level. Log into the Sitemap console using your
Google account login. From here you can add a site to your account. Simply enter
your top level domain where it says "Add Site" (see fig 1.0). This will add the
domain to your account and allow you to then submit the XML sitemap.
Read
the Full Article
About the Author:
Scott Van Achte is the Senior SEO at StepForth Search Engine Placement. Scott
has worked with StepForth Placement since
Aarly 2003 and has thoroughly enjoyed working in the search engine industry. |
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