FAQ #3 - What is a site map?

Happy fall, everyone! I can't believe it's already October. We've had some beautiful weather this past week, but it seems like fall is catching up with us here in Minnesota.

This week's FAQ comes from a client of ours who noticed we added a site map to their website, but didn't know what it was for:

What is a site map?

With every website that we build here at Avallo, we include a site map. A site map is simply a listing of all of the pages that can be found on the website. Often times the site map includes a description of what is on the page as well. Site maps serve three main purposes for websites:

  1. Project Definition: To get a better feel of what you want your website to include or how you want your website to flow, we will help you create a preliminary site map. This serves as a visual representation of your site structure.
  2. Usability: While we strive to build websites that are easy to navigate or search, not all users will search in the same way. By offering a site map, users are able to view a list of all of the pages on the site and choose where they want to go.
  3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Last, and probably most importantly, we include site maps for robots. In all of our Avallo Panel sites, we include two site maps: the listed site map and an XML site map. These site maps allow search engines to quickly and efficiently index a site, and allows them to find all of the relevant pages that are on your site. In fact, Google relies on site maps so much that they even have tools that allow you to submit your site map for indexing.

Site maps are often under appreciated, but a very important part of any website. If your site doesn't include a site map, you may be missing out on some important SEO.

Join me again here next week, and be sure to send me your questions. If your question is featured here, I will send you an Avallo T-shirt and some chocolate!