Understanding Site Maps and Site Indexes

[mandy]

Site maps should also give both search engines and site visitors a clear snapshot of how you, the web site owner, has organized the information available on your site. It always drives me crazy when I see webmasters mislabel a site index as a site map. Think of an index many people are familiar with -- an index at the back of a book. It is organized alphabetically. A site index is organized alphabetically, and it can be an effective way of presenting information to site visitors (especially on a larger site) to help them more quickly find desired information. The Center for Disease Control has a very useful site index.

A site index, however, does not provide a hierarchy of organized content, which is what site visitors desire. When site visitors arrive on your web site from a search engine results page (SERP), they usually land on a page in the middle of the site, not the home page. Users immediately try to establish a sense of place, where they are within your web site. A quick click on a site map link should reconfirm the sense of place on a site, something an alphabetical site index does not do...

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