Compatibility:

WebSite X5 Evo and Pro

WebSite X5 generates your website's XML SiteMap.


A SiteMap is an XML file that contains a list of all the pages in a website. It was introduced by Google™ to scan websites more quickly and effectively. In other words, if you create and submit your SiteMap to a webmaster, it can ensure that its search engines, and in this case Google™, is informed of the existence of your website and all its pages, including those which would not be "seen" by normal scanning procedures.


You can use the SiteMap to direct search engines to including specific site content, such as videos, images, news, etc. The SiteMap can also contain additional information on how often pages are updated, when they were last edited, the importance of each page within the website (this parameter does not affect a page's positioning within the search results).


#tip - For more information, see: About Sitemaps (Goggle WebMaster Central)


How to activate the SiteMap

To create and link the SiteMap to a website, leave the Automatically create a SiteMap option active as the default setting in the Step 1 - WebSite settings > SEO > General window.


Now you can add additional information for each page in the SiteMap, as follows:

  • On Step 3 - Map select the page you want to work on.
  • Click on the Properties button to open the Page Properties window and open the Expert section.
  • Leave the Add this page to the Sitemap option as it is (active) and select the Contents Priority and Update frequency options.
  • Repeat these operations for the other Pages on the Website.


#tip - To improve optimization, you should set a Page priority level that is proportional to the importance of the page, and not give the same value to every page. You can decide, for example, to give high priority (9) to important pages such as the home page or product description pages, and a lower value (7) to pages that give further information. 


How to include Images in the SiteMap

The SiteMap can be used to give additional information to Google™ on the images that are on the website, so helping the webmaster's search engine find images that would otherwise be by-passed (for example, images that are included in JavaScript modules) and to recognize the images that are more important than others. For example, by not including images in the SiteMap that are part of the graphic template, or that are purely ornamental, you indicate to  Google™ that they are less important than others.


Google™ specifies that you can add a maximum of 1000 images per page in the SiteMap, and that it cannot guarantee that all the images will be indexed, or that all the additional information will be taken into account.


Once you have activated the generation of your SiteMap, all the images you added using an Image Object are automatically added to SiteMap itself. You can also report more details:

  • Double-click on the Image Object that corresponds to the Image you want to work on, to open the Image Object window.
  • Open the SEO section and report the Title, Caption, Geographical position (e.g. Address, Town, etc) and Licence URL.
  • Repeat these operations for all the Important images in your website.


#tip - For more information, see: Adding information on images in a Sitemap (Google WebMaster Central)


How to include Videos in the SiteMap

The SiteMap can also be used to inform Google™ about the videos you have in your website. Again, Google™ does not offer any guarantees, but if you do include videos on the SiteMap, you increase the possibility that they will be traced and included in Google Video™ searches.


You can use the SiteMap to give additional information, such as the title, description and length of the video, that may simplify the search. This, and other information, is included in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). However, Google™ may use the text on your video's page for the SERPs, rather than the text you supply in the SiteMap's video content, if this differs.


Once you have activated the generation of your SiteMap, all the videos you added using a Video/Audio Object are automatically added to SiteMap itself. Completing the SiteMap with video content is easy:

  • Double-click on the Video/Audio Object option for the video you want to add, to open the Video/Audio Object window.
  • Open the SEO section and dd the mandatory information that must be included in the SiteMap: Title, Caption and Preview Image.
  • You can, optionally, include the following information: Category, WebSite Keywords, Publication Date, Time (secs) and Contents suitable for everybody.
  • Repeat these operations for each video that you want to include in the SiteMap.


#tip - For more information, see: Creating a Video Sitemap (Google WebMaster Central)


How to remove a Page from the SiteMap

When a SiteMap is created, all the pages on the website are included in it by default. If you don't want Search Engines to consider a particular page, just remove it from the SiteMap by following these steps:

  • Select the page you want to remove from the SiteMap in the window in Step 3 - Map.
  • Click on the Properties button to open the Page Properties window, and then open the Expert section.
  • Deactivate the Add this page to the Sitemap option.
  • Confirm and save.