The site map is a key component of effective search engine optimization. Ideally, this page is planned before site creation and goes live with the rest of the site. Once internal and external linking strategy has been implemented, we count on the site map as an insurance policy of sorts. The search engine spiders may or may not crawl and index all site pages via the main navigation and whatever internal linking we have put in place.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of sites out there have no site map. Then there’s another group that will place a link to the site map on only one page of the Web site. Even if your one and only link to the site map is located on your home page, do not automatically assume that users or search engines will find it and use it. The truth is your visitors (human or otherwise) will not necessarily enter your site via the home page.

A Sitemap Helps Users and Spiders
Links from other Web sites and existing search engine rankings will send visitors to various internal pages. The obvious solution to this problem is to include a site map link within the footer of every page. This allows easy access for all to find everything your site has to offer.

That is, of course, assuming that your site map actually does provide easy access to all pages. It’s easy for errors of omission to go unnoticed for the life of a Web site if you don’t have a professional search marketer on your side. Prior to site launch, review all pages on your Information Architecture and ensure that each of these is represented on your site map.

Also, task yourself with a monthly reminder to reevaluate your site map. Keep track of every page you have added to your site that month, and revise your site map to include links to each of these new pages. One of the easiest mistakes to make is to forget to update the site map after adding new content.

Site Map Considerations
Categorized Site Map: Depending on the number of pages your site contains, you might consider breaking it up into multiple pages. Our team has one client that is essentially an online directory for local business search. Its one thousand plus unique pages called for a slightly different approach.

This approach is based on experience and tips from the Google experts who told us that beyond 100-150 links, a search engine spider won’t likely follow more. This means a site map of 2,000 links could be largely useless except to any user willing to scroll through endless lines of links. In this instance, we recommended a category breakdown, essentially asking the client to turn the primary site map page into a dmoz home page, with links to main page categories only.

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