Get SEO Benefits Using Sitemap!
According to Sitemaps.org – Sitemaps are an easy way for webmasters to inform search engines about pages on their sites that are available for crawling. In its simplest form, a Sitemap is an XML file that lists URLs for a site along with additional metadata about each URL (when it was last updated, how often it usually changes, and how important it is, relative to other URLs in the site) so that search engines can more intelligently crawl the site.
Briefly, a sitemap is the map of your site. This should have one page where you should include the structure of your site, its sections as well as the links between them. They are seen as a vital way of communication with search engines. In robots.txt you tell search engines which parts of your site to include and which pages to exclude from indexing, whereas in your site map you guide search engines about the main categories, sub-categories and products in an orderly fashion. Complex sites with thousands of products need a well designed site map to enable site visitor understand the whole site in nut shell. You may create a HTML site map for the site visitors and an XML map for robots of search engines.
According to Sitemaps.org – Sitemaps are an easy way for webmasters to inform search engines about pages on their sites that are available for crawling. In its simplest form, a Sitemap is an XML file that lists URLs for a site along with additional metadata about each URL (when it was last updated, how often it usually changes, and how important it is, relative to other URLs in the site) so that search engines can more intelligently crawl the site.
Web crawlers usually discover pages from links within the site and from other sites. Sitemaps supplement this data to allow crawlers that support Sitemaps to pick up all URLs in the Sitemap and learn about those URLs using the associated metadata. Using the Sitemap protocol does not guarantee that web pages are included in search engines, but provides hints for web crawlers to do a better job of crawling your site.
*It is of high importance for new sites to have a Sitemap: it speeds the process of indexing pages.It is of great help in classifying your site content better. Although it does not mean the search engines will necessarily classify a page as belonging to a particular category or as matching a particular keywordonly because of your sitemap, there is an increased likelihood that they would.
Using a sitemap is of great importance for both humans and spiders (such as GoogleBot). As mentioned above, it makes it user friendly for humans and easier for spiders to ‘see’ it.
The notion of sitemap is not a new one neither for SEO consultants nor beginners in SEO. However, it looks like not all online businesses understand the importance of having a sitemap as part of your Internet marketing strategy.
Briefly, a sitemap is the map of your site. This should have one page where you should include the structure of your site, its sections as well as the links between them. They are seen as a vital way of communication with search engines. In robots.txt you tell search engines which parts of your site to include and which pages to exclude from indexing, whereas in your site map you guide search engines about the main categories, sub-categories and products in an orderly fashion. Complex sites with thousands of products need a well designed site map to enable site visitor understand the whole site in nut shell. You may create a HTML site map for the site visitors and an XML map for robots of search engines.
Want to find out more about Search Engine Marketing, then visit Laura Wimble’s site on how to choose the best SEO Consultant for your needs.
Is Twitter Suitable For Business
twitter SEOIn one of our previous posts we mentioned how top 100 fortune companies are using social media in their online marketing strategy . Today we will talk about the benefits of twitter as a part of your internet marketing campaign.
The Twitter site has created a lot of buzz so far and has made it the place to be for celebrities and businesses. It seems like creating a twitter campaign is the right thing to do and Twitter is the place to be. For businesses, it is an attractive platform where the potential for success is available. Twitter is large group of friends and strangers all across different parts of the world creating updates about what they are doing. It means that no matter where you are, people near or far can use Twitter to reach anyone near or far. As Twitter users tend to access the site from all sorts of platforms, from their mobile phones or though the various remote-access applications like Tweetdeck, the estimated big numbers of users on Twitter are likely to be even bigger in reality.
In order to use Twitter effectively you should follow the right people and to join in on the right conversations. For example, you don’t want to follow someone who tweets about things that are irrelevant to you such as what they are watching on TV. One thing to consider is that people won’t want to follow you if you are not sharing valuable information. You can also follow your competition on Twitter to see what services they offer.
Some of the benefits of using twitter with your business:
1. Marketing – twitter provides a link with your an audience. When you release a blog post or a product or service you can announce it on twitter. The people that visit your link may opt-in to your newsletter first before buying your product but it’s a good way to promote something. Just don’t just promote on twitter. Many people really hate that. Keep your mix of helpful articles, fun and promotion.
2. Idea generating – You can brainstorm ideas on twitter by asking for ideas. Your audience knows what it wants you can simply ask them and deliver it to them.
3. Support – if you have a technical or genralised issue, let people know on twitter. It creates an understanding from your followers and awareness of any ongoing issues.
4. Recruit – In case you need someone to help you with something ask your followers on twitter and you’ll get recommendations.
5. Knowledge network – if you follow other people on twitter in your field of expertise you have a huge resource. A virtual knowledge network to ask questions and help others. Some people you help may become your customers in the future. And you’ll learn which makes you even better at what you do.
6. Networking – business is done by networking. Much of my business is because someone referred me. Networking is key and twitter allows you to do virtual networking easily.
7. Feedback – You can get feed back from your follows on your tweets or service.
8. Brand – twitter is just another way to expand your brand. If you don’t do it someone else will. I’ve seen many Bob Proctor copy cats on twitter in the last week or two. I hope the real Bob was one of the first.
Without a doubt Twitter provides some scope for businesses and many social media companies are using twitter for campaigns. Some say that twitter is not for everyone based on recent studies and the data on twitter suggests that only certain type of businesses can benefit from twitter significantly. Research shows that over half of Twitter’s outbound traffic is to content driven sites. Studies indicate that less than 10% of outbound Twitter traffic is to transactional sites like retail. It is important to do adequete research to implement the right seo strategy so that you dont waste valuable time.
For your seo services. go to syscomminternational.com where you can find out all about Internet Marketing and what it can do for you.
Top 10 Ways To Make Social Media Better In 2010
1. Spend more traditional ad budget on customer service
Most of the problems could be diffused easily if companies would simply treat customers as they should. In today’s social life activities, word of mouth travels far and can truly influence users across the globe.
2. Implement robust policies for social media
A majority of companies have been engaged in social media activities on an as required basis, without a plan and long term goals. What we need to do is to put together a list of goals and then work to find a strategy that will work to accomplish them.
3. Provide proper training to staff
Remember, the idea for social media is to make public, and very quickly, whatever your ideas or services or products are about. It is in your interest to ensure that workers are not breaking terms of use, acting inappropriately, providing inaccurate information or involved in any other type of detrimental promotional activity.
4. Track to measure success
One of the toughest aspects of Social Media Marketing is tracking the conversations that are occurring ‘deep inside the information cloud’. Research and find a solution that will help you and your company achieve your social media goals.
5. Protect your image by protecting your brand name
If you have a trademarked term, you can almost always stop name squatters from hijacking your brand name, but why wait for that to happen? There are services that allow you to reserve usernames across hundreds of sites and prevent those from stealing your brand.
6. Customise your social network pages
Use your social media profiles as extensions of your brand and of your website. Take the time to make custom backgrounds for Twitter or create rich Facebook tabs that support your current marketing initiatives.
7. Advertise your social profiles to promote yourself
Many times, simply slapping a social media badge in your footer is simply not enough. Although one of the hardest things to justify in Internet marketing is spending money without sending visitors to your web site, you have to understand that much like investing in design and development for social profiles, you should be securing budget for advertising on social media sites as well.
8. Reward loyal fans and ‘Call to action’ to get new fans
By offering fans items that are exclusive to the social audience, you can ‘demonstrate value’ and make them feel good about following you. Not only would they get an exclusive deal/song/download/game, they also get the feeling that they are getting a special connection that not everyone has.
9. Reach out to more social network sites
While Twitter and Facebook are making the biggest splash on the news scene, there are hundreds more social sites out there – many of which can help you achieve company goals.
10. Don’t neglect your main website
While all of the above points speak mainly of tactics that work off of your site, one of the biggest things to remember is that you can be social on your site. Things like blogs and forums were the original social media, so make sure to maintain and cultivate them and create good content that will perform well in social media.
Syscomm are experienced SEO consultants and a Internet Marketing Agency. For more information on Search Engine Marketing go to Syscomminternational.com.
categories: Search Engine Marketing,Social Media Marketing,Online Reputation Management,Search Engine Optimisation,Social Media Analytics,Social Networking Sites,Social Media Tools,Search Engine Marketing,Social Media Marketing,Online Reputation Management
