Learning From Google Webmaster Tools Part 3

And yes, the series continues…

I’ve been writing posts about how you can make small tweaks to your on and off page SEO using the information that Google will gladly give to you about your site through Google Webmaster Tools.

The one we’re going to talk about today is equally is simple and as easily overlooked…

This one has to do with Sitemaps.

This is not the human sitemap that shows a reader all your content in an organized way (though those are helpful too)

If you’re a cool WP blogger like me, you should be using the plugin called Google Sitemaps that creates an XML sitemap that helps Google crawl and index your content.

But did you know that using this plugin isn’t all you need to do?

After using the plugin to create your sitemap, Google also wants you to submit it to them so they can help to index your content more fully. We’ll talk about HOW to submit in a moment.

This is by no means new, but I certainly picked up HOW MUCH they want you to have an XML sitemap by this picture I saw on one section of my GWMT account:

A big yellow CAUTION icon. That tells me they want to see that sitemap baaaad.

Fortunately, if you’re already using the GS wordpress plugin, it’s easy.

First, you need to go in your WP admin to Settings >> XML Sitemap every once in a while and actually rebuild the sitemap so it keeps updated to your most recent content.

Then you just go to the SITEMAPS tab in your GWMT account and enter the URL of the sitemap. It’s almost always /sitemap.xml

Little by little you’re ticking off all the things Google could ask of you, and in doing so, forcing them to think of you favorably.

Simple things… little things… can make all the difference.