How does a search engine work? Two things figure greatly in making search engines work effectively and efficiently: the electronic search spider and the sitemap.

What is a sitemap? A sitemap is basically a page or pages that serve/s as a directory by listing all the links to all documents and files found in a website. It is not merely a random listing of links, but organized in such a way that it gives the web user an idea of how all the information that can be found in the site fits into an outline or framework. It is like viewing the table of contents of a book, or viewing the “concept map” of the site’s content.

What is a spider? In SEO language, spider is not an animal found in your closet. This electronic search spider is actually a bot which collects data and copies content to be stored in the search engine’s database when keywords are fed into the search dialogue box. The spider reads the content of the site and sends another bot to follow the links and copy the content contained in them.

What purpose does a sitemap serve? A sitemap like any other map gives directions to a navigator. It primarily targets search engine spiders so that they are properly directed to your site and to the links where keywords entered in the search dialogue appears. As such, it is actually a useful tool in search engine optimization. A well organized site map would guide the spider to find the information it needs when keywords are entered during a search operation.

As an additional beneficial consequence, sitemaps have proven to be useful even to web users. Since a sitemap displays all the links to information found in a website, it helps the user to search for a particular topic in mind. Many users also use the sitemap to navigate between pages in a site.

What are the benefits of having a sitemap for my website?

1. No page would be left unturned Going back to the purpose of sitemaps, having one would mean faster and easier tracking and crawling of spiders all over your site. As a result, search engines would surely get to the view all the pages of your site and not just the pages containing random keywords.
2. Easier navigation for site visitors Once a web user has accessed your sitemap, they need not go back to the search engine page to look for what they need. If what they are looking for is in your site, then they would have an easier and faster way of locating it.
3. Potential advertising value If it so happens that a relevant product or service company reaches your site, then it would be easier for them to see how best they can position themselves in the different pages of your site as a paid page advertisement.
4. Encourage greater traffic to your site If your company website has a sitemap then potential buyers would have an easier time in accessing your latest products and services. Moreover, they would not miss out on any product that might be off future interest to them since the sitemap would display all information found the site.

How are sitemaps formatted? There are at least three major types of sitemaps: indexed, full categorical, and restricted categorical. An indexed site map appears as an alphabetical listing or directory. A full categorical map displays all links classified into categories; while a restricted categorical sitemap displays all links listed in a chosen category at a time. The full and restricted sitemaps are very similar except that the former displays all links in all categories all at once in a page, while the latter focuses only the links under the selected category for easier and less eye-straining viewing.

The most widely used format is the full categorical. Based on the results of a 1999 SURL study on sitemap designs, the full categorical format is most preferred by users since it is easier to search for topics within the site and it allows easier comparison between and among categories.

Some tips in setting up your sitemap

1. Link the sitemap only to your homepage. This is to ensure that the spider starts searching from your homepage down to all the pages listed in your sitemap. In this way, no page would be left unvisited by the spider.
2. Do not go beyond 30 pages for a sitemap. Large websites having 50 or more pages should not go beyond 30 since this adds more pages to the site, and might make search engines think that the sitemap is a link farm. Also, this prevents overcrowding of links which could be tiring to view.
3. Check all the links listed in your sitemap. It can be discouraging when you click on a link only to find out that nothing is displayed. Test your sitemap; click all links in every page to make sure that all links are indeed linked to the right page.
4. Give keyword-rich titles to sitemap links. Keyword-rich titles give your site more advantage in being searched properly under the right category. But be sure to have this sitemap link linked back to the sitemap (e.g. back to sitemap).
5. Provide a short description for the links in the sitemap. Doing so would give readers a better idea of what to find in the link and save them time on surfing.
6. Be consistent in designing your sitemap with the other pages of the site. Employ a recurring design and the same HTML template for all pages to establish identity and build character to your website.

Now that you have learned basic things about sitemaps, maybe it is time for you to build one for your site.

About the Author
Nicholas Tan has been involved in Article Writing, providing Free Articles, Internet Marketing, SEO, Adwords, & Adsense for more than 5 years and designs and develops websites. Submit your free articles and get your articles noticed! Get your Free Articles here! Submit Articles! Free Articles! We provide free articles and information. Check us out at Free Articles!

There are so many websites on the internet nowadays, so if you want a great website that stands out from the crowd, you are going to have to have brilliant web design incorporated into it.

A website that is badly designed will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. If you want a website that is remembered for the right reasons, you are going to have to have a design that makes your website unique.

Your web design is the first thing that people notice when they arrive at your website. If you have an untidy website with bad graphics and terrible navigation, you are going to lose your readers and viewers right from the start. That is why web design is important in the process of creating a successful website. Whether it is a personal website or one that you intend to use for business purposes, it needs to be well designed and well maintained.

If you can grab the reader’s attention by graphics that are relevant and useful, text that is of a very high quality, colors and layouts that are easy on the eye, then you are half way there! Research has shown that more people buy from websites that are designed professionally and look trustworthy, rather than quickly made and with badly thought out designs.

So, you can see how important your web design really is now. There are many ways to improve your web design, both for free and by hiring someone else to do it for you. Which you choose will depend on your budget and your time frame. A busy web designer may not be able to fit you in for months.

How you layout your website is also very important. You may have lots of great content on your website that people would love to read, but what if they can’t find it? If you haven’t clearly and easily laid out your website in the web design process, your readers won’t be able to find any other pages. This could be disastrous if you are selling some kind of service or product.

All in all the web design aspect is only a small part of getting your website up and running, however, it is very important. When you are designing your website, remember to make it easy to navigate, concise and clear.

If you are not familiar with web design and all the aspects that go into creating a website, it may be worth your while looking for a professional web designer or a pre made template. Web designers come with different price tags all depending on where you get them from and what you need doing.

If you want a relatively simple design you will be looking at a fairly cheap price. If you are looking for a complex website with many features you can expect to pay a fair amount of money for it. A good designer will include you all throughout the process. You will be able to approve the website as many times as required.

Ready-made templates are great if you don’t have the budget for a professional designer and don’t have the time to learn how to create one from scratch. There are many free ones that you find on the Internet or ones that you can buy for a small amount of money.

If you want to build web sites that are truly free, you are going to have to carefully evaluate free web site hosting services before signing up. Special considerations to keep in mind when shopping for web hosting providers include:

Reliability You can build web sites all day long, but no one will ever see them if your web host isn’t reliable. To find out how reliable a free website hosting company is, you should ask about expected downtimes, traffic limitations, and customer service procedures. You should also ask what type of message will be displayed if the web site is disabled for any reason.

Bandwidth The amount of bandwidth you have determines how long it will take for your pages to load. To keep costs low, many web hosting providers offer limited bandwidth. The problem with this is that your pages can take ten seconds or more to load. That’s just enough time for a user to get frustrated and seek out another web site. If your free website hosting account comes with limited bandwidth, you need to be prepared for the possibility of missing out on customer sales.

Unwanted Ads Free website hosting services are notorious for placing unwanted ads on customer web sites. This means that you will have pop-ups and other annoying advertisements on your site that you cannot remove. These ads might become very irritating for you and even more so for your customers, who may choose not to visit as a result.

Other Limitations If you want to build web sites that include pictures, icons, and large amounts of text, you may want to look for web hosting providers that will allow you to build these kinds of web sites. Some free website hosting services will place limitations on what you can and can’t do. For example, you may be barred from using pictures or more than five web pages.

A Couple of Things to Look For There are a couple of things to consider when acquiring a hosting company that offers cheap web site hosting. An affordable web site that is worth investing in has two main attributes: there are no hidden fees and there are enough quality features to keep your web site running smoothly. When comparing hosting companies or looking for cheap web site hosting, it is imperative that you keep these two attributes in mind.

No Hidden Fees A web site hosting plan you can afford will have free or low cost set-up fees and reasonable annual or monthly maintenance fees. Hosting companies should make you aware of these fees right away and should also make you aware of any hidden costs that you might not be considering. Unfortunately not every cheap web site hosting company does this. In fact, some of them purposely try to be sneaky and trick you into buying into a seemingly affordable web site hosting package that will become more expensive as time goes on. This is why you should always ask hosting companies detailed questions about what you will be expected to pay.

Quality Features Cheap web site hosting companies offer many of the same features that expensive web site hosting companies do, but not all companies have plans that are comparable. To make sure you get a plan that keeps your site up and running smoothly, you will need to consider specific hosting features like storage space, down time, customer support, and tech support when making comparisons. If you shop carefully, there is no reason why you can’t get an affordable web site hosting plan with all of the quality features you require.

About the Author
Cliff Posey, This article is provided by Websites That Succeed were you can get free website help.