Sitemap Mod

[b2w]

Should I install a sitemap mod (from .org) to help with SEO? I'm new to this, but I think this is what my site needs to get more traffic.

[Noppid]

More traffic comes from back links.

What sitemap hack are you asking about?

[mattyk72]

If it's vbseo sitemap I definitely recommend it

[Brandon Sheley]

yes, sitemap is a must ;)
it helps search engines find all parts of your sites

[Joeychgo]

Care to explain why

[Brandon Sheley]

Care to explain why

me ?

it helps search engines fine all your threads and post :confused: :confused:
by giving them links directly to your threads

[Hell³]

It does exactly what the name says, it provides spiders with a map to the posts and threads you have in your forum... so instead of blindly crawl your site the spider knows exactly where to go. It's a nice tool...

I would like to know if the 3.5.x version works in 3.6.0 though :confused:

[Brandon Sheley]

vbseo 1.7 sitemap works on my 3.6 board :)

[Hell³]

cool... off to implement I go then...

Edit: Oh, I see it is a pre-release for vbseo customers only... took me a couple minutes to find out that... ok then I'll wait when it's released in vb.org

[b2w]

Someone on TAZ said that there is a hack on .org that I can just install and not have to use vBSeo. There is an "is it vBSeo worth it thread over there".

[Hell³]

vBSEO and the vBSEO sitemap mod are two different products

[b2w]

vBSEO and the vBSEO sitemap mod are two different products

VbSEO sitemap is available on .org right? That's what I will be installing? The one they are talking about in that TAZ thread? I just wanted to be sure that's what they were talking about because they are two different things right? One is free and one is not.

[Hell³]

Yeah, the sitemap mod is free on .org, but the 3.6.0 compatible version has not been released there yet. I would recommend to wait for the new version. It would avoid some trouble if you decide to move to 3.6.0

Edit: you can check more info about the google sitemaps on this link. You will have to register there and link the sitemaps generated by the mod so google can pull them.

http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps

[b2w]

Thanks Hell!

I went to google and signed up. How do I know where to find the sitemap url on my site?

[Hell³]

they are phisically inside the vbseo_sitemap/data folder... but in google you should link them as if they were in your forums root folder... I believe that's what the forums/.htaccess modification is for...

[b2w]

they are phisically inside the vbseo_sitemap/data folder... but in google you should link them as if they were in your forums root folder... I believe that's what the forums/.htaccess modification is for...

:( I don't understand. Here is the example they give me of what to put in http://www.brides2wives.com/sitemap.xml. Does this look right?

[Hell³]

umm nope... the vbseo sitemaps should be accessible (once you setup everything and do your first build) in links like this:

http://www.brides2wives.com/forums/sitemap_index.xml.gz
http://www.brides2wives.com/forums/sitemap_1.xml.gz
http://www.brides2wives.com/forums/sitemap_2.xml.gz
http://www.brides2wives.com/forums/sitemap_3.xml.gz and 4, and 5 and as many as your forum needs...

[Noppid]

:( I don't understand. Here is the example they give me of what to put in http://www.brides2wives.com/sitemap.xml. Does this look right?

Not Found
The requested URL /sitemap.xml was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Apache/1.3.34 Server at www.brides2wives.com Port 80

I have serious doubts about google site maps and no longer use them.

[Brandon Sheley]

have serious doubts about google site maps and no longer use them.

really ? why is that..
I can run the task manager and send a sitemap and within seconds I'll see google bots ;)
seems like it works fine for me.
do u not have a archive section either... :rolleyes:

[Noppid]

I'm not tellin'. :p

Well, maybe I will after Ocala Bikefest (http://www.riderinfo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4619).

[Brandon Sheley]

umm okay..lol
btw i like the bike in that pic :D

there are some nice ones in my town, that are 40-60 thousand $ bikes.. thats almost more then my house...lol
but they look hot

[Peggy]

well I know where noppid will be this weekend :p

[b2w]

I'm going to be a quitter and give up. :p

[GrendelKhan{TSU}]

Care to explain why

you are kidding right?

oh I get... a little bait for more content? ;) :p

[Joeychgo]

you are kidding right?

oh I get... a little bait for more content? ;) :p



:D Ya think?

[ninjashoes]

I dont understand the point of a sitemap in a forum. Your doing it so the bots have links to all your pages but dont they have links to all your pages on the forumhome? The only thing I can think of is to set priorities on which pages get spidered but when I was doing that the bots kept reading ibproarcade scores all day. I dont understand how a sitemap is different than an archive or just your forum by itself. Im still new to this though so Im probably wrong.

[minstrel]

I'm starting to wonder about Google sitemaps as a limiter, not a booster.

I had sitemaps set up for my forum, main site, and directories a few months back. Now, admittedly, it's been hard to tell what's been doing what since Big daddy, but frankly I didn't see any positive benefits from those Sitemaps - only negative ones.

[ninjashoes]

I'm starting to wonder about Google sitemaps as a limiter, not a booster.

I had sitemaps set up for my forum, main site, and directories a few months back. Now, admittedly, it's been hard to tell what's been doing what since Big daddy, but frankly I didn't see any positive benefits from those Sitemaps - only negative ones.

Same with me, it seemed like with the sitemaps that the same parts of the forum that werent specified in the sitemap were getting spidered way more than the specified areas. When I took the sitemap down bots were around just as much and pages were still getting slurped up. I fail to see why use a sitemap when your forum doesent have any areas that arent linked.

[minstrel]

Exactly. Maybe it was just a coincidence but it seemed to me spidering DECREASED when I added a Google Sitemap.