Forum Moderators: open
Thanks!
I just made a site map for mysite and I placed it on a seperate subdomain. sitemap.mydomain.com/index.html
sitemap1.html sitemap2.html ..
would this make sense?
I am not sure about the multi site map ideal if it would help or not. One thing that you could try doing as well is to create a site map and content pages on a seperate but related domain that has links back to the domain that you are wishing to promote. This would create external links to your site, the search engines seem to give a higher value to these external links.
But from a marketing standpoint, I found that in the case of a retail site, using:
keyword_catalog
was a nice alternative to "sitemap" - it was simply a directory of how to find different product categories on the site & other important info.
Its a strange question but does it really matter if we have the link to our site map labeled as "site map"?
As I read the question, I think it's asking about link anchor text, not the page file name. This brought to mind an old thread in the "Content and Copyrighting" forum, where I raised the same question. I wanted to get some keywords into the anchor text.
There are some good ideas on that thread, but I'd love to see further discussion of the question.
Navigational Text
Parameters determining the guide copy
[webmasterworld.com...]
skiguide's post makes me think the link anchor might be something like Browse Widgets Catalog. Possibly, one could put "Site Map" in a graphic link and "Browse Widgets Catalog" in a text link. The problem is, of course, that "Site Map" is much clearer, at least on non-retail sites.
sitemap.html does have a nice ring to it. And I am sure that bots try to indentify sitemaps by name if possible to give them an anchor to work with. Just a theory - but when I write bots I try to make them intelligent - of at least not dumb!
Chris BH.
It would fit better with our theme if it had another name.
Yes, this was the point of my comment. Why would the engine care if it was called sitemap.html?
And I am sure that bots try to indentify sitemaps by name if possible to give them an anchor to work with.
I don't understand why an engine would want to identify sitemaps. I'm open to being persuaded, but right now I don't see it.
As coconubuck did, I'm seeing the "site map" anchor text as a limitation. I want to get some anchor text in there that's relevant to search targets and would help in optimizing the site.
A search in Google for "sitemap.htm" returns 328,000 results and "sitemap.html" returns 437,000.
This causes me to expanded my comment above. Why would the engine care if the file was called sitemap.htm or sitemap.html?
And I am sure that bots try to indentify sitemaps by name if possible to give them an anchor to work with.
A filename is not an anchor...
Again, the original question was:
does it really matter if we have the link to our site map labeled as "site map"?
Does it really matter if we have the link to our site map labeled as "site map"?
From my perspective, the name of your file for the Site Map is of no importance. Now, when it comes to visitors, that's another story (the visible text link).
Since I've been using the term Site Map from the beginning (early 1996), I may be a little biased in this. I think the term Site Map gives the visitor a clear definition of where to find the mother of all pages.
Now, if you want to be creative and use a keyword rich link to the site map, you could. But, will the visitor understand what the link is? Does it convey the proper message? I believe the term Site Map is so ingrained in the general surfing public, that they may be looking for that link if they get lost on a site. A search function would eliminate most of the confusion but I still think Site Map is as self explanatory as you can get.
We are talking one link here. Why is it important to try and reinvent the wheel and throw in a keyword rich link which the general public may not fully understand. Again, if you are creative and can come up with something that is self explanatory, then more power to you. ;)
In regards to the reply made by urasuccess, I have to disagree with that strategy. What you are describing is what is referred to as a Gateway Domain. Pretty much useless in today's environment for long term strategies. It also adds a certain element of risk.
indiandomain, no problems in using multiple site maps. Larger sites may find this a neccesity due to the number of pages found within the site. If the site is organized and structured well, individual site maps for each main category may be appropriate.
A search in Google for sitemap returns 21,500,000 results. There are so many variations on how the term is formatted. It could be sitemap or site-map, it could have any number of file extensions; .htm, .html, .asp, .php, .jsp, etc.
From a user perspective, I feel the term Site Map is the best description. I'm not real concerned in changing that link to something keyword rich, it doesn't matter to me. I've got too many other links to worry about. The Site Map is a given, it's a natural part of the structure. Why change it?
[edited by: pageoneresults at 5:37 pm (utc) on May 18, 2003]
<added>Many times we are limited to space in our linking structures. Trying to name the Site Map using a keyword phrase may interfere with your usable space.
1. Site Map
2. Site Directory
3. Site Index
4. Site Information
5. Table of Contents
6. Keyword Site Map
7. Keyword Site Directory
8. Keyword Index
9. Keyword Site Information
10. Keyword Table of Contents
There is typically a set group of phrases that describe the Site Map. Using any other phrases may confuse the visitor. In the case of the Site Map, I think trying to target a keyword phrase may or may not work depending on the product and/or service. You could end up with a link that is 5-7 words long which in turn could be construed as being somewhat abusive from a professional standpoint.
I would only change the phrase if I could find something that introduced a keyword or two into the anchor text but otherwise kept everything very clear. The site map page can be a useful one for optimization, though, and I'm still looking for that alternative. I find that the company name, if it's short and keyword rich, sometimes works as a modifier for "home" and for "site map."
Excessive keyword repetition is something else to careful about in text links.
