XML Sitemap

Inserting sitemap into site already launched?

[pixelpusher256]

Hello!

I have launched an e-comm site about a week ago.

Site not too bad in rankings.
Site is generally on page 6 of Google using relevant meta tag keywords.

The site was launched without an XML sitemap.
I have never used an XML sitemap before.
I have now written one in Dreamweaver for the site.
My questions are:

1)Would the insertion of an XML sitemap at this point, mess up the sites ranking?

2)If the sitemap were inserted, would the site have to be resubmitted to the search engines?

3)For an e-comm site is weekly frequency OK for <changefreq></changefreq>?

4)How do you judge priorities for different pages?
<priority></priority>?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Best Regards,
pixelpusher256

[Marshall]

pixelpusher256,

To my knowledge, sitemaps never hurt anyone and they are good for telling robots to go deep in your site when they may not otherwise. I, however, only provide the URI and last updated informaiton since I never saw any improvement when including the other information. Frankly, I do not know how important it is, kind of like the meta tag revisit, but I am sure someone more informed than I could give you more details.

And it does not hurt to check G's webmaster tools and see exactly what they have to say.

Marshall

[piatkow]

Can't hurt, go for it.

Frequency - you know your content, you want search results based on current content but without the googlebot taking over your site. Just be realistic.

[Corey Bryant]

In google, I have noticed some of our sitemaps are automatically downloaded daily. Yahoo - we usually have to tell it to re-download.

-Corey

[tomcatuk]

I've never heard of anyone finding themselves penalised for adding an XML sitemap. Basically, yes, you should have one. Update it and resubmit it through Google webmaster tools at least once a week. It's possible to automate the generation of it, but if that's a hassle it's only a 10 minute job once a week to keep it up to date.

[raedthakur]

hmm...i prefer submitting it manually