Does a menu matter in the SERPs

[HTMLBasicTutor]

Michelle

---------- Post added at 07:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:19 AM ----------

I need the sitemap for webmaster tools, correct?

Michelle

Incorrect. You do not require a Sitemap to use Google Webmaster Tools. NONE of my sites have a Sitemap and they
a) are registered with Google Webmaster Tools
b) are indexed just fine.


A site map (note the different spelling) however is helpful for you visitors and ALL search engine bots.

[morestar]

Hmmm... Gossip and rumour and speculation abound in SEO circles. Don't take that advice as gospel. However, if users cannot navigate around your site, then a search engine bot is likely to have the same problem.

But she did say they find her via search - I believe Michelle means the search results...Search engines can find the pages...

[Adrian98]

I guess when they are searching for the kws, those pages show up, plus I promote them to my lists.

It's a sales letter, there are never any navs in a sales letter b/c you don't want the surfer to lose focus by going to all these other things. A site should concentrate on just one product (unless it's a retail site of course, then that's different.).


Michelle

In My point of view, there should be the navigation bar in the sales letter! Because, If the prospect is interested in purchasing or any other transaction, there will not be any kind of risk of losing the focus of the prospect! in short the Nav bar will make the prospect more easier to fetch the information!

[morestar]

In My point of view, there should be the navigation bar in the sales letter! Because, If the prospect is interested in purchasing or any other transaction, there will not be any kind of risk of losing the focus of the prospect! in short the Nav bar will make the prospect more easier to fetch the information!

But every website is different and so are there many purposes. We can't assume a nav will or won't positively affect her desires for her website.

[deepsand]

Ok, just to understand something as I'm not an SEO expert. I need the sitemap for webmaster tools, correct? And then I need the sitemap that surfers see, right?

Neither is an absolute necessity; which you use depends on your needs.

If you want pages that cannot be reached by way of navigating from the index page to be discovered and indexed by search engines, then a XML site map would be in order.

If you want visitors to be able to easily and freely wander about the site, then an HTML site map would be called for.

Pages which are not for public viewing can be excluded from both the XML and HTML site maps.
.

---------- Post added at 05:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:27 PM ----------

Ok, just to understand something as I'm not an SEO expert. I need the sitemap for webmaster tools, correct? And then I need the sitemap that surfers see, right?

No I wouldn't be able to update that html thingy. Some of the pages aren't for public use like thank you pages & the rest I plug to my list, but I never know that not having a nav would affect my SERPs.

Neither type of site map is an absolute necessity; which you use, and what each contains, depends on your needs.

If you have pages which cannot be reached by way of navigating from the index page, and you want them to be discovered and indexed by search engines, then an XML site map is in order.

Similarly, if you want visitors to be able to easily wander about the site, then either navigational links or an HTML site map are called for.

Those pages which are not for public viewing can simply be excluded from either type of map.

And, no, an absence of navigational links will not necessarily have any effect on SERP rank, as an indexing engine does not care how a page was discovered.

[weegillis]

@deepsand mentions that if your pages discovered that are not in the navigation scheme of your site then an XML site map file is in order. I agree with this in principle, but we must still be sure we're not sending robots to a dead end. Those pages ought rightly have some form of link(s) back out to the site somewhere, be it the home page, a product/services index page, or some page that links back onto the navigation scheme. This way robots can make a loop through, without hitting a wall.

[deepsand]

@deepsand mentions that if your pages discovered that are not in the navigation scheme of your site then an XML site map file is in order. I agree with this in principle, but we must still be sure we're not sending robots to a dead end.

That's not a concern as SE's 'bots do not autonomously move from page to page via on-page links, but rather get their marching orders from the indexing engine (IE). So, if the IE has discovered a page via either an XML site map or by way of "Fetch as Googlebot," it will be crawled.

[bhartzer]

Same goes for pages on your site that have links from other sites. If someone has linked to a page on your site from their site, it will get crawled.

[weegillis]

That's not a concern as SE's 'bots do not autonomously move from page to page via on-page links, but rather get their marching orders from the indexing engine (IE). So, if the IE has discovered a page via either an XML site map or by way of "Fetch as Googlebot," it will be crawled.

Copy that.