Has Google finally embraced RSS with their new XMLpowered Sitemaps program? Well, sort of, but it seemsmore like a hug than a strong impassioned embrace!

It does use XML technology which allows for thecrawling and updating of your site's web pages.You can even include your entire web site (all urls)with this indexing program. For anyone targeting the searchengines, especially Google, this program (still in beta)is a MUST HAVE.

If you require timely updating of your most popular pagesGoogle's new Sitemaps may prove indispensable. It's a little premature to assess the importance or impact of Google'snew program but anyone wanting to give their site acompetitive edge should be gearing up.

How it works:

There are several ways to set-up a XML Sitemap, perhapsthe easiest way is to use the open-source Generator whichyou can download from Google. This is a Python file thatyou can upload to your webserver and this generatorwill create a sitemap from your 'URL lists, webserverdirectories, or your access logs'.

It would probably be wise to check with your hosting providerto see if they can accommodate this Generator on your webserver.It you have a small site there should be no problem but if yoursite runs into the 1,000's of URLs or pages -- check to see how muchbandwidth such a system will take up. It's better to be safethan sorry!

Once done, you have to then submit your newly generated XML Sitemapto Google and the search engine will use this XML Sitemap toupdate and index your site whenever you make changes on your site.You will need to have a Google account.

You may also submit text files containing URLs from your web siteto be included in Google Sitemaps but these text files will haveor will be given low priority for the time being.

To get started on your own Google Sitemaps Account you can click here: Google's Sitemaps

What's great about it:

Besides seeing Google finally grab the RSS wildcard, it gives you better control of how and when the searchengines update your web site pages. Perhaps, the mostimportant aspect for Internet Marketers, you can now assignthe importance that's given to any of your particularpages. As most marketers know, certain pages on yourweb site are more important than others; these pagesearn money, build your contact list, or direct yoursite's visitors in the right direction. In other words,you can now place more emphasis on your web site's'bread and butter' pages. A BIG Plus!

With Google Sitemaps you can decide the importanceplaced on these pages by using the priority XML tag.This rating system is relative, it only relates tothe pages on your own site.

Likewise, you can also indicate how frequently yourpages changes by using the changefreq XML tag. More orless instructing Google when your page will be updatedor changed. This is a win-win situation for everyone;Google gets the freshest content for its users andyou gain more control of the frequency of the updatesdone with your site or web pages. This may have a directinfluence on the profitability of your web site.

For those who are actively marketing thru the searchengines and keywords -- Santa may have come a littleearly this year. Of course, the jury will be out forawhile but Google Sitemaps will probably have apositive impact on your bottom line.

What it means for Google:

For those of us who have been following and watchingthe RSS wildcard for the past couple of years, it takesaway some of the frustration and a little of the puzzlementfrom Google seemingly total disregard of RSS.

RSS is not a fad, it is not a trend and it's not going away.Instead, its importance is growing. It is fast becoming 'the'way data is moved on the web. One could even speculate thatin the very near future all web pages will have an RSScomponent, perhaps a hybrid of 'XML/HMTL' or an embeddedXML code that will work with all browsers, search enginesand servers.

For Google to ignore the growing importance of RSS, blogging,podcasting, broadcatching, the RSS featured Firefox browser,MyYahoo, not to mention all those orange XML logos poppingup on most of the major sites on the web -- is beyond comprehension.Why Google does not have an RSS search on its main search engine page still seems baffling. Bringing out a homepage and notincluding an RSS feature is just foolhardy (They may introducethis feature later).

For those firmly in the RSS corner, Google's continueddisregard for RSS became more than a little frustratingto observe. It was downright rude! Perhaps Google was waitingto incorporate RSS in a program like this new XML Sitemaps?Can this mean that Google has finally accepted the importanceof RSS and they're starting to make amends? More importantly,could there still be a few more RSS goodies in the Google Jarleft to be announced?

One can only speculate but when it comes to RSS and Google,lets just hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

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Copyright © 2005 Titus Hoskins of BWMagic's Free Marketing Tools & Guides

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