I dont mind admitting that every time some new fangled idea or piece of technology arrives online, I have a small fit and wonder how long its going to take me to understand what it is, what its for and whether I need to use it to stay up there. Its even more frightening when the experts start explaining it and really only serve to confuse the matter when they use their techno-speak.
Here I am still wrestling with RSS and along comes Google with their Sitemap program. I must admit, it sounds simple enough until you read a couple of articles about how to generate your sitemap or go to Googles instructions and manage to get completely confused. I dont know what it is, although I know its not just me. I know too many people who work online and have the same problem. Maybe we just went to school in the wrong decade (seventies or maybe earlier). But then, we can spell and write, cant we
For those who need to know what the Google Sitemap program is about, here it is in the nutshell and in MY language - English. At least, what I think it is, anyway:
Google, I imagine have become tired of crawling billions of websites, most of which are largely inactive or abandoned or both. So they are giving webmasters (website owners) the opportunity to play a part in the frequency and importance placed on the crawling of our websites. Even to the point of giving us the ability to prioritize these aspects of the individual pages. In doing so, they are also having us do some of their work for them, which is OK, seeing as they are our websites. I think its grand.
In their instructions, Google give a few different methods by which you can generate a suitable Sitemap and how to get it onto your server etc. To be honest, I found it totally confusing. They do suggest that we use their Sitemap generator, but it is only compatible if your server uses a thing called Python 2.2 and you need to know the command that launches it WHAT Theres that nerd stuff again. Every time I send a simple question to my webhost, like, whats your name, I get three paragraphs of unintelligible techno-speak, so how do I find out if I have some Snake-thingy on my server So, Googles instructions are no good to me, or anyone like me. Even their alternatives, although slightly simpler, dont answer ALL the questions I need answered in order to get through it in one piece.
Fortunately, through trial and error (or maybe because I may actually be turning into a nerd), I can tell you how to generate a Sitemap, upload it to you server (and more importantly, WHERE to put it) and how to submit it to Google.
First, you go to this website - http://www.blocklayer.com/googlesitemap/ and you will find that all you need to do is put the URL of you website (the main domain name) into the appropriate field and click Create map. It will create a list of the pages in your website and will, helpfully, also list any broken or inactive links (which you can go about fixing). You can change the frequency with which each page is crawled and rate its importance. Obviously, pages which change often, need to be crawled more often etc. When youre happy with your list of pages, you click on XML Sitemap and it creates a coded XML Sitemap. XML is the code thats used in RSS, which looks much like HTML.
Now, and this is the magic bit, you need to do one more thing before you can upload to your server. You need to copy and paste the XML code to a Notepad document. You call the file sitemap.xml. Now the WHOLE of that file name goes in the Filename box,. The .xml doesnt go into the file type box, like it would in a Word, Excel or any other program. Low and behold, the little Notepad program magically recognizes the fact that it is XML format (I dont know how, probably mirrors) and the file you end up with has the .xml file extension. That is what you upload to your server.
Its very easy. You just place it under what they call the Root Directory. Ive learned that this is the Main Folder (I dont know why they just dont say Main Folder, but). So, it goes into the very first folder of your website. If using cPanelX its called html public. If using Frontpage, its simply the folder with the main URL as its name.
My first question was, What about Sub-Domains Do I have to submit separate Sitemaps or will they be included in the one I generate for the Main Domain The answer is that Sub Domains wont be included in the Main Sitemap, you need to generate a separate one by simply using the Sub-Domain URL in the generator. This is handy because each Sub-Domain will usually have unique needs and it would be more than awkward if they were all included in the main Sitemap.
Obviously, in the case of a Sub Domain, the Root Directory or Main Folder you put this Sitemap into is the Main Sub-Domain folder, that is, the first one under the Main Domain folder.
Submitting to Google is a really easy process. You just log into your Google account (you have to have one) and go to the Add a Sitemap section and enter the COMPLETE filename of the sitemap, which will be: http://www.mydomain.com/sitemap.xml and click on Submit URL.
Although I have had a little fun with the fact that I still, after several years earning a living online, dont understand a lot of the lingo. To those of you who are in the same position or those who are new to this Internet business thing, I can honestly say, you will get a handle on it and find that all these things, which may seem completely overwhelming at first, will make sense and come more easily if you take the time to read a little and find out. Ive obviously surrendered to this concept and it has made things much easier.
Oh God! I think Im a Nerd!
Stephen Brennan is the author of the popular ebook title - The Definitive guide to Affiliate SUCCESS. He also runs .
Today if you want your site to survive in the search engines your going to need backlinks. Almost all the major search engines rank sites based on the number and the quality of backlinks. Besides getting a good search engine ranking with links, it also one of the most effective ways to increase a sites traffic. So, how do you build your link popularity In this article Ill show you 5 simple steps that will help you build your sites link popularity.
Step 1 - Determine the type of sites you want to trade links with. Focus on sites that are related to your sites market, dont go after sites that are not related, it wont help your ranking that much. To locate link partners search with your main search phrases in the search engines. Example, if your site is about cars, you could search with phrases such as car repair, tires, etc. The sites you see on the first few web pages of the search results should be your main targets. Remember to stay away from direct competitors.
Maybe the best way to Locate quality link partners is by visiting the Yahoos directory or ODP because all these web sites were reviewed by humans before being listed. If you decide to use a directory visit the category thats most related to your web site, if your web sites subject is popular enough you should find more then one category thats related to your web site.
Step 2 - Review each web site you found carefully, check to see if they are using spam, if they are using spam, stay away, this will only hurt your web site in the long run. Remember to aim for the big money and not a quick dollar. Look to see If they have a links or some call it a resource page. If they dont have a links page, you should most likely move on and forget about it.
You should also review their content and resources they provide. Would their content or resources be useful for your visitors Do you feel that its a good resource Is it a web site that you feel good about recommending
Step 3 - After reviewing the web sites, youll need to gather information about them. First, find out the owner of the web sites name. Sometimes the owner with list his or her name on the site, usually located on the about us page. Otherwise, you can get their name is by doing a WHOIS search. There are several available you can use, just search with the phrase WHOIS lookup.
Find out their email address. Remember to get the right one, you dont want to contact them through their support email address, instead search for their marketing or partnership email. Also find something on their web site that is unique and useful, this could be an article, an online tool or a service, use this to compliment them.
Step 4 - Create a list of all the web sites you have found related to your web site. You can list these web sites however you prefer. Personally I always rank them based on their link popularity, ranking and Page Rank. This allows you to have a good idea which ones you should target first. If your web site is new you should go after the web sites that dont have the highest link popularity or Page Rank.
Step 5 - Finally, we are nearly done. Its time to put all the information you have gathered into action. Send a custom e-mail to each site requesting to exchange links. Remember not to use generic e-mail link exchange request, half of the time these are deleted without ever being truly considered. State the webmasters name, this will show that you have at least looked at the web site.
Next, you need to mention something you liked about their web site. Who doesnt like a nice compliment every once in while I know I like them and you are probably the same way. Compliments can help seal the deal, they not only make the webmaster like you more, but also show that you took the time to look over their web site.
Tell them about your web site. What is offers and how it can benefit their visitors. Unfortunately many webmaster no longer care about offering a useful resource and only care about money. So, youll need to tell them how much traffic you get and how it can benefit both of you. Tell them exactly where you think your link should be placed on their site. Also tell them URL of where youll be placing their link on your web site.
Matt Colyer began as a SEO Specialist in 1997. He founded in 2004 as a source of articles and tutorials for Web site owners looking to improve their Web site.