Google Sitemaps Tutorial – How To Make One

In our previous article, we discussed the reasons for creating a sitemap. In this article, we’ll walk you through the basics of making one.

1. Sitemap Basics

Sitemaps are writen using a highly structured language known as XML (eXtensible Markup Language). A simple example of a sitemap is given below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
   <url>
    <loc>http://www.velvetblues.com/</loc>
   <lastmod>2008-09-19</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
   </url>
   <url>
    <loc>http://www.velvetblues.com/services/</loc>
   <lastmod>2008-09-19</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
   </url> 
</urlset>

As we mentioned in the last article, a sitemap can contain more information than just a list of pages. While, only urls are required, additional items that you can supply include:

• lastmod – The last time the page was modified.
• changefreq – How often a page is updated. Possible values include always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and never.
• priority – The relative importance of a page with respect to the other pages in a website.

2. Building Your Sitemap

If you have a text editor, you can use the example above to create your sitemap. However, if you want to avoid getting your hands dirty, there is an easier way. There are various free sitemap generators that you can use. We’ve included two below.

Official Google Sitemap Generator

Google has created a sitemap generator that you can download for free. Complete instructions can be found here.

An Easier Option

Using the Google sitemap generator is probably the best option. However, it isn’t as quick as many other options.

XML-Sitemaps.com provides a great service. All you need to do is input the url of your homepage, and all links will be automatically crawled and included in the generated sitemap.

The only problem that you might run into with this solution is that AJAX or Flash links aren’t crawled. In this case, you might have to manually add additional urls to the sitemap.

3. Submit to Google

Once you’ve uploaded the sitemap to your server, it is easily submitted by using Google’s Webmaster Tools. Once logged in to Google, go to https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/dashboard, and follow the instructions.

For more information on Google sitemaps, see the information page in Google’s Webmaster Tools.