The Site Map and Google

Many Webmasters argue that including a site map allows users to bypass their well-thought-out
navigation paths and that users therefore aren’t subjected to the full, all-powerful magic of
the sites. Absolute nonsense. If your visitors cannot find what they want in a very limited
amount of time, they are going to leave—and probably not come back. If the Googlebot can’t
find a way through your Web site, it’s not going to hang around too long either, and Google
certainly is not going to contact you with a follow-up courtesy call to make sure that everything’s
fine. You’ve had your chance.

If you offer a site map, yes, some users may miss out on great offers, witty copy, and stunning images, but they will get to where they want to go. They still may partake in your promotions andappreciate your huge range, but not right now. Be patient.
Likewise, if the Googlebot can index your entire site, which it can do easily through a site map, it is going to rank you higher on many more keyword searches. And that’s what you want, isn’t it? Google can’t follow your JavaScript navigation. Employing a site map ensures that
there’s an obvious link to every page, and the Googlebot will take the easy route if a site map
is offered. If your site map is accurate, Google will index every page that is presented.

You can never reinforce things too many times on a Web site, and it is therefore a shrewd maneuver to include the site map as part of your help page, even if it has its own link or button
on the home page. Users do not think alike; some will spot the direct reference, and others will assume that you have hidden it within the help pages. Most important, be sure that there is a direct link to the site map from the home page or index page of your site.

If you don’t already have a site map, this issue must be addressed—no matter how small
your site is. Even if you have created your site using WYSIWYG (what you see is what you
get) software, a map often can be created automatically by the program and added as a
page. If developers have created your site, you can ask them to map out the site, as this is
information they should have created when they built the site in the first place. Finally,
you can get one free at http://www.xml-sitemaps.com in return for advertising their service.
If you already have a site map featured on your site, make sure that the locations are
clickable and bring the user, and Google, to that page of the site.