Drupal Basics-Improving SEO with a Sitemap

Submitted by matthew on Sat, 2008-09-06 00:51

There are two main kinds of search engine optimization (SEO)--Off Page and On Page.  Off Page optimization relies on the links you get from others increasing your page rank.

On Page optimization can include:

  • Ensuring that you have unique tiles and meta tags for your different pages and that they reflect the content of the page
  • Using a robots.txt file to prevent search engine bots from indexing pages you don't want them to index
  • Bulleted lists
  • Using "static pages" for each of your pages (pathauto will do this nicely and automatically on your Drupal site)
  • Creating a sitemap for the search engines to access

Creating a sitemap in Drupal is extraordinarily easy using the XML Sitemap Module.

  1. Download the Module from Drupal.org
  2. Place and unpack it in your /sites/all/modules/ directory
  3. Enable the module at /admin/build/modules.  I would suggest, at a minimum, checking off XML Sitemap, XML Sitemap: Engines and XML Sitemap: Node
  4. From /admin/settings/xmlsitemap/engines you can choose to have the sitemap submitted to search engines upon update, cron job, you can choose to log access, and which search engines you would like to target

Your sitemap will show up at /sitemap.xml

If you want to be proactive with your sitemap, you can submit it to Google using the Webmaster Tools.  From the dashboard add your site to your profile.  After your site has been added, then add your sitemap under Sitemaps -> Overview ->Add Sitemap.  A pulldown will allow you to identify what kind of site you are submitting.  Add sitemap.xml to the text box and click on the Add button.  Google will shortly download your sitemap and will begin processing it.

Sitemaps can be helpful if your site:

  • has content that changes or updates on a regular basis like a blogging site
  • Doesn't have very many links coming in
  • has a large archive of content that isn't available directly through navigation

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2008-12-16 13:12

This explanation has given me some good ideas for my sites. Keep on with the good work, JC drupalcarmen.com

Submitted by matthew on Tue, 2008-12-16 17:11

I hope that my post will help you in your SEO endeavours. I enjoy writing and am glad when what I share helps others.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2009-01-20 14:03

it's a great job dude, it helps me so much to know drupal and seo. thanks!

regards,
Busby SEO Test

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 10:40

I am thankful for such a great post with many new things to learn. Thanks, you cleared up some things for me.Just what I was googling for! Thanks for sharing!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2010-01-14 17:37

Drupal is a powerful platform, feature rich & stable.
Mastering the Drupal SEO can attract traffic to your site with direct results.
SEO has proven it's results in boosting the hitting rate of your website.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2010-02-05 13:10

great post, really points out everything that needs to be done to properly promote your website. I took my website to www.xxxxxx.xxx and they improved my rank and increased my business tremendously. They do a great job at SEO!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2010-04-28 08:36

Thanks for pointing out how important to your sites seo that your sitemap is. Great post keep it up thanks again.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2010-11-12 06:30

Brilliant post - really helpfull guide and a pretty exhaustive checklist.

Submitted by Christie (not verified) on Thu, 2011-05-26 02:59

This is great idea. I am thankful for such a great post with many new things to learn. Thanks, you cleared up some things for me.

Submitted by jawad khan (not verified) on Tue, 2012-08-07 16:31

thanks, this saved me from a lot of trouble, i am newbie using drupal, and now i successfully configured the sitemap module and submit it to google and bing.

Submitted by matthew on Tue, 2012-08-07 23:24

I'm glad this little post helped you out! Welcome to the Drupal community - its a friendly one.

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