SEO Site map - how to tell if it is functioning.

General General Questions
1

Any thoughts on how to tell if it is set up properly and is actually communicating with Google?

2

[quote name=‘Len Backus’]Any thoughts on how to tell if it is set up properly and is actually communicating with Google?[/QUOTE]



Use Google webmaster tools! Also add this statement to your robots.txt, it does wonders:



[I]SITEMAP: [url]http://www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml[/url][/I]

3

What is the path to the sitemap to place in Webmaster?



Where and what is the robots.txt?

4

Len,



To view your sitemap just go to:



[url]http://www.longrangehunting.com/gearshop/sitemap.xml[/url]



To get it set up in google webmaster tools just go to:



[url]https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en[/url]



Login and then add your site if you need to or else just click on your site. On the following page click:



Site Configuration => Sitemaps



From there you would add your sitemap. You can either use sitemap.xml or index.php?dispatch=xmlsitemap.view



As for your robots.txt, right below the sitemap link is a link called Crawler Access. From there you can see your robots.txt.



This is what mine looks like:


User-agent: *
Disallow: /images/
Disallow: /skins/
Disallow: /payments/
Disallow: /admin.php
Disallow: /store_closed.html
Disallow: /core/
Disallow: /lib/
Disallow: /install/
Disallow: /js/



It’s just the default one that came with the cart.



I hope that helps,



Brandon

5

Thanks



I did the robot txt file just now.



Brandon, I don’t see a sitemap.xml file there at …/gearshop/sitemap.xml. Wonder what I did wrong?

6

Put this in robots.txt:


Sitemap: /gearshop/sitemap.xml



Use the same for adding to webmaster tools: /gearshop/sitemap.xml



Edit: I would also suggest if you have SEO enabled to add this to robots.txt as well:


Disallow: /index.php



This is what mine looks like:


User-agent: *
Disallow: /images/
Disallow: /skins/
Disallow: /payments/
Disallow: /admin.php
Disallow: /store_closed.html
Disallow: /core/
Disallow: /lib/
Disallow: /install/
Disallow: /js/
Disallow: /index.php
Sitemap: http://www.your_site.com/sitemap.xml

7

Len,



Clicking on the link above brings me right to your sitemap with no problems. I’m using FF 3.6, but I don’t know if that makes a difference.



Also, Tool Outfitters is correct about what he says.



I do wonder though, why would you disallow index.php?



Brandon

8

[quote name=‘brandonvd’]I do wonder though, why would you disallow index.php?[/QUOTE]



So that miscellaneous pages like cart, checkout, etc… are not indexed.

9

[QUOTE]So that miscellaneous pages like cart, checkout, etc… are not indexed.[/QUOTE]



Wouldn’t you be disallowing “index.php” in your example?



If so, why would you want to block your home page from being indexed?

10

Why would the home page be blocked?



Edit: Essentially all pages that are not SEO would be blocked.

11

In Google Webmaster, the sitemap is shown as having been sbumitted 3 times. But “0” is shown for number of indexed pages.



How can it be “0”?