Marketing & SEO Discussion List - LED Digest

> ... a few months ago on one client's site, I wrote on the
> HTML sitemap (who knows why!?), "This sitemap is intended
> for search engines only. Readers please use the navigation
> to the left.

    - Michael Linehan, LED 2076

That you got the client site unbanned is good.  But why in the world would you NOT want users to use the site map? Site maps are often the only salvation a site with "navigation" offers to otherwise interested and motivated users.

You should be viewing user traffic to the site map as a weather gauge.  The more they visit there, the more you need to rethink the "navigation." Making it difficult for users to find content, discouraging them from doing so, are good ways to drive off customers.

I've often said that any site with 12 or more pages needs a site map, and it should be there for the users, and it shouldn't use any funky design or navigation.  Get people to the content they want as quickly as possible.  Get off the "This navigation system is great!" ego trip. "Navigation" ruins more Web sites than it helps.

How many more years is the Web design and promotion community going to need to learn this fundamental principle?  People don't want or need flash, drop-down, Java, Javascript, or any other type of magic, cool, anticipatory menu systems.  They need to be told, "What you're looking for is HERE."

Site maps do that faster and better than anything else.  You just can't put them on the front page.  That's why a clearly visible high profile text link to the site map is vital for every site that has one.

End of navigation woes.

Michael Martinez

michael-martinez.com

I have to say that site maps are a main staple of my internet use. I try to find what I need by the navigation guides but I am too busy and have too many sites to go to daily to fuss with trying to find what I need.  If I can't on the first couple of tries I go right to the site map and can usually find it.  If a site doesn't have a site map, then I am off to someone else's site to find what I need.

Vicki Lambert

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Written by Lee Roberts
January 23, 2006

Site maps are great tools often mis-used.

Site maps are and should be considered first and foremost as a map to the areas that will help your clients find the information they seek faster.  Site maps are not for search engines as promoted by search engine optimization experts attempting to increase the page rank values of internal pages.  Site maps are not for listing every single page within a Web site in an effort to get your pages indexed in the inadequately programmed search engines.

As we've seen in the past several posts, people use them to find information they otherwise can't because Web designers fail to consider proper Web site architecture and navigation.  Even with developing a proper architecture and navigation system there will be people who use the site map to get to where they want faster.  As previously pointed out (sorry I don't recall who pointed it out), using a good log analyzer and studying the visits to and navigations from the site map can help you improve your Web site considerably.

I have no desire to debate with search engine optimization _experts_.

Site maps with hundreds of links or multiple site maps wouldn't help in any way.  What many people forget is they should be reviewing the raw logs to determine which pages the search engines have visited and then realize that the search engines visit all pages, yet do not always put ALL pages in their visible index.  Many reasons exist as to why a search engine doesn't show all Web pages they have visited... some are simply still in the queue for processing and can stay there for months.

An example of a well-formatted site map with thousands of Web pages would be WebMD which Shari Thurow points out she's the SEO expert for that company.  Even with all the pages within the site, this site map uses logical sections to present links to some of the major pages.  Not hundreds or thousands of links to each and every page of the Web site.

Shari did imply that she focuses upon user-friendly before search engines.  However, many search engine optimization _experts_ tend to focus upon one thing only; that being search engines above users. Just remember search engines don't buy... people buy.

Sincerely,

Lee Roberts

applepiecart.com