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Common Misconceptions about Sitemaps
A sitemap is a very useful tool when it comes to SEO and shouldn’t be overlooked. However, the purpose and importance of sitemaps are sometimes misunderstood and website owners of new websites get disappointed due to their erroneous expectations of what a sitemap can do.
Misconception #1 - Kind of Sitemap
One of the most common misconceptions about sitemaps is the very definition of what it is. Those who do not know anything about web design automatically assume that the sitemap referred to by SEO experts is a page dedicated to helping visitors visualize the website layout or structure. This sitemap, also called HTML sitemap, is very useful to visitors for navigation purposes. However, while it is recommended that websites provide HTML sitemaps for their visitors this is NOT the sitemap we are concerned about SEO-wise. The sitemap SEO experts mean when they advice you to use or create a sitemap is a sitemap file (XML file) to be submitted to Google through your Google Sitemaps Account. You can also submit the XML file to Yahoo, Ask, and MSN Search.
Misconception #2 - Purpose of a Sitemap
I have come across SEO articles telling its readers that they should use sitemaps to get their sites indexed by search engines. This is absolutely wrong. Sitemap files do not get your site indexed. What it does is it help your webpages be indexed faster. This may seem like splitting hairs but it is important that you understand that whether or not you have a sitemap search engines will still find your website using the same old ways (URL submission and plain old crawling). This means that if your website is new your first goal is to be indexed. A sitemap will not magically make that happen. What a sitemap will do for you though is that once your website has been discovered by search engines, the sitemap file you submitted will make crawling and indexing pages within your site much faster.
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