Re: SEO Site Map

2009/6/4 Pat <smartnexus@gmail.com>

Hi Bernard,

Thanks for the reply.

I was curious, would a single html-text sitemap link in addition to
an
image, flash, or java navigation, absolutely alleviate this problem
of
search engine spiders not being able to index a site that has no html-
text
links?

NO.
It would probably help the indexing, but if a given page is an "orphan" (ie not poiinting to some other page), then GG considers it as non-relevant for the web: it might index the content BUT will not take the page into account for PR.
So you still need to have some html nav on each page. You might place 2 links: one to your home page, the other one to the "sitemap" page.
One of these 2 would be enough, in that case prefer your home with the form mysiste.com/ rather than mysiste.com/index.htm. And of course, check that at least one page of your site points to the sitemap (suggested place would be the home page)
 

Most sources for SEO warn about spiders only seeing html-text links,
but
never suggest that a text link sitemap would solve this problem.

CAREFUL
There are 2 different things that our lagugage calls "sitemap".
- sitemap in search engine language is an xml or txt file, that you provide to robots so that it makes their spidering easier. ideally, this should point to each page in your site, and this sitemap may be (well, I think "must be") pointed to from within robots.txt
- html map of the site, or at least its main sections: this is an help for the human visitor BUT at the same time, if it is sen by spiders as one page of your site it will help them to spider your site

You can also generate the "html map of the site" thru an xml sitemap, eg the one I have placed at http://www.rdvj.com/sitemap.xml
(the trick there is that the xml file runs an xml stylesheets which rendres both files as a combined html file)

So:
- for helpîng spiders you may use a list of your URLs in XML or TXT. This sitemap should ideally be pointed to from robots.txt, and would ideally be submitted to Google webmasters tools, Yahoo and Live too.
- for helping human visitors you may consider providing an html map of the site. This map MUST be pointed by at least one page, at least your home page. This map must point to as many of your URLs as relevant for your visitors, including your home page.

If your site has a flash-only or a javascript only navigation, using all these files WILL help your indexing.
BUT for a good PR, you need to add at least one html link on each page to another page of the site, at least your home page and possibly the html map of the site


 

If only image, flash, or java navigation are used with no html-text
links,
would a robots.txt sitemap file alleviate the problem of spiders
being
able to index the site?

- I would not recommend it

- Just to clarify "a robots.txt sitemap file" this might lead to misinterpration.
-- robots.txt contains indication to the spiders thru disallow: "please be kind enough not to spider the disallowed pages, but I have no way to prevent you from doing it"
-- robots.txt MAY contain one (or it ssems now several) lines pointing to xml or txt sitemap:
Sitemap: http://mysite.com/sitemap.xml
-- thus robots.txt is not really a "sitemap"

 

Thanks, Pat

On Jun 1, 3:33 pm, Bernard Savonet <bernard.savo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Pat,
>
> 1 - *Having both image and html-text links is fine*, even if they are at the
> bottom: spiders will understand and read the html links and will then be
> able to discover, explore and index the pages of your site.
> This is the best way to have both a "fancy navigation" for users as well as
> an "effective navigation" for bookmarking and spiders. (Your "fancy
> navigation" can then be javascript or flash: no matter they are not "spider
> readable", since you still have  the text version to show navigation)
>
> 2 - *Having  the right and relevant text for anchors of text links*, as well
> as good relevant text for 'alt' and 'title' for all links, is a good way to
> help your human visitors as well as indexers. Keep it relevant and white
> hat, this is your best weapon.
>
> *Additional comment*: not sure if that still applies in "web expression",
> but with Frontpage it was better to avoid *"VML extensions*", because they

> would be understood as text only within IE... and so NOT by spiders..http://siad2.hec.fr/msibs/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2...
> a comment I made for my students and their minisites visible fromhttp://webmsi.free.fr
>
> 2009/5/29 Pat <smartne...@gmail.com>

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hi,
>
> > I am using expression web and using the pre-built interactive image
> > buttons for a navigation bar at the top of the page.  I am also
> > planning on using a text link navigation at the bottom of the page,
> > including a site map.
>
> > I understand that search engine crawlers don't see image links, and
> > the crawlers have a tendency to not crawl all the way to the bottom of
> > the page.
>
> > 1.  My first question is, would having a single text site map link
> > just under the navigation bar alleviate this potential problem of the
> > crawlers not getting to the bottom of the page to see the text links,
> > and thus not being able to index every page of my website?
>
> > My other problem is, I am concerned that a single link to a site map
> > just under my navigation bar will look out of place and detract from
> > the look of my design.  I have also read about a technique called
> > hidden text used to create a high keyword density that disguises
> > keywords or links by making them the same color as the page
> > background, however the crawlers recognize this keyword stuffing
> > practice and will penalize the page rank.
>
> > 2.  My second question is, would using this hidden text keyword
> > stuffing technique to create a single invisible site map link under my
> > navigation bar be a problem in the same way as if I was attempting to
> > create a high keyword density?
>
> > I don't see that using this method for a different objective as being
> > a problem with crawlers and page ranking.
>
> > I would appreciate any comments on this concept or solution.
>
> > Pat
>
> --

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>
> - Show quoted text -

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