Importance of an XML Sitemap for your Re-Design

Search Marketing Blog

Importance of an XML Sitemap for your Re-Design

There are many critical components to remember when re-designing an effective search-friendly Web site, including clean, accessible code, and deep, relevant content featuring the optimum mix of messaging and keyword density. However, one of the most important features to remember is the addition of a properly structured XML Sitemap.

Established Authority
During a site re-design, you more than likely will go through the process of changing all the file names and directory structures of your former site. This, in essence, means that you are eradicating from your Web pages any established ‘authority’ and ‘trust’ recognized by the major search engines . Therefore, it is extremely important to put in place a strategy to preserve your Web site’s legacy authority via an updated XML Sitemap.

301 Re-Directs
As you re-design your Web site, new pages get created, old pages get deleted, and you may rename or move existing pages. This creates a very confusing situation for the search engines. However, one way to ensure that your new pages are crawled correctly, and as fast a possible, is to implement 301 re-directs. This should be immediately followed by the submission of your new XML Sitemap. These two strategies, the implementation of 301 re-directs and submission of an XML Sitemap, enable search engines to rapidly find your pages. In turn, the engines are able to effectively index the pages that reflect your new architecture and updated site navigation.

A Brief History
Way back in the day (June 2005), Google launched a new service called Google Sitemaps, now called Google Webmaster Tools. The three main purposes for this Sitemaps service are:

1. Enhance the Google’s ability to crawl Web sites by providing information on the specific location of site pages.
2. Provide Webmasters with a way to inform Google that their site’s content had been updated.
3. Allow Webmasters to notify Google with the priority in which they would like to have their pages crawled.

Late in 2006, Yahoo! and Microsoft also adopted the XML Sitemaps protocol. This development gave Webmasters the ability to inform all three major search engines that their sites had been updated.

How XML Sitemaps Can Help
If your former site was not being indexed on a regular basis by the major search engines, then more then likely, your newly re-designed site will probably also experience the same indexing situation. Fortunately, you can increase the indexing of your new site through the creation and submission of an XML Sitemap. Now that the three largest search engines support the Sitemaps 0.90 protocol, you have the ability to implement a significant search-friendly element into your site, so that it rapidly achieves prominent positioning throughout relevant search listings. Sitemaps make sure the search engines are aware of all of your new optimized site pages.

A Word of Caution
XML Sitemaps are not a substitute for properly optimized and accessible Web pages. Never rely on your Sitemap as the only means of having your pages crawled on a regular basis by the major search engines. A properly structured Sitemap is simply an effective way to alert the major search to fact that you have permanently moved content on your site, and should be an integral component of your concerted search engine optimization strategy.

Let EngineWorks Provide Assistance
Our professional team members in SEO Department here at EngineWorks are experts at identifying areas of opportunity and implementing search-friendly strategies during the design and development of a new Web site. We also can assist in establishing and preserving your Web site’s authority throughout the search landscape. Let us show you how we can help prior to your next re-design or new site launch.

Other Resources:
- Don’t Re-Design Your Site Out of the Search Engines
- SEO Best Practices - How To Assess On-Page Optimization
- Google Updates Webmaster Tools with Sitelinks & Top Search Queries