Sitemap 161
Benefits of XML sitemaps to search-optimize Flash sites
Below is an example of a validated XML sitemap for a simple three page web site. Sitemaps are a useful tool for
making sites built in Flash and other non-html languages searchable. Note that because the website's navigation is
built with Flash (Adobe), the initial homepage of a site developed in this way would probably be found by an
automated search program (ref: bot). However, the subsequent pages are unlikely to be found without an XML
sitemap.
XML sitemap example:<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>http://www.example.com/?id=who</loc>
<lastmod>2009-09-22</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>0.8</priority>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.example.com/?id=what</loc>
<lastmod>2009-09-22</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.example.com/?id=how</loc>
<lastmod>2009-09-22</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority>
</url>
</urlset>XML Sitemaps
Google introduced Google Sitemaps so web developers can publish lists of links from across their sites. The basic
premise is that some sites have a large number of dynamic pages that are only available through the use of forms and
user entries. The Sitemap files contains URLs to these pages so that web crawlers can find them[2]. Bing, Google,
Yahoo and Ask now jointly support the Sitemaps protocol.
Since Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and Google use the same protocol, having a Sitemap lets the four biggest search engines
have the updated page information. Sitemaps do not guarantee all links will be crawled, and being crawled does not
guarantee indexing. However, a Sitemap is still the best insurance for getting a search engine to learn about your
entire site.[3]
XML Sitemaps have replaced the older method of "submitting to search engines" by filling out a form on the search
engine's submission page. Now web developers submit a Sitemap directly, or wait for search engines to find it.
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is much more precise than HTML coding. Errors are not tolerated, and so
syntax must be exact. It is advised to use an XML syntax validator such as the free one found at: http:/ / validator.
w3. org
There are automated XML site map generators available (both as software and web applications) for more complex
sites.