AutoMapIt Site Map Creation

[mariebenz]

Hi Shawn,

I keep getting an error message in my Google webmaster tools that my html sitemap is not in the proper format. I have been downloading it from automapit and opening it with pagespinner, saving as an html and then ftping it to RentalProperties.com

what am I doing wrong? any easier way? anything else I should be doing?

thanks,

Marie Benz

[MaxPowers]

Hello Marie,

Googles "Webmaster Tools" deals with your XML sitemap, not the HTML version. Saving the XML sitemap as an HTML file will definitely cause errors.

Be sure that the sitemap you submit to their Webmaster Tools is your rentalproperties.com/sitemap.xml file.

I see that you have the Automatic FTP setup on this domain, so there is no need to download the map or to change the format of the file.

It also looks like your last update occurred about 10 minutes after you made this post... the latest version of the sitemap is on your site and it looks like the XML version of your sitemap is coming up ok.

I ran the URL though the HTTP Header Checker here at AutoMapIt ( http://www.automapit.com/headerchecker.html ) and the XML sitemap did come back as text/xml... which is what Google wants to see.

Please check your Webmaster Tools account... be sure that it is the sitemap.xml URL that you submitted to them, and see if it's updated (in the Webmaster Tools) in the past 24 hours.

Most of all, let me know if this issue continues and I can help make sure that things are working for you.

-Shawn

[mariebenz]

Hi Shawn,
I appreciate your help.
I have 2 questions--

Should I leave everything alone, and not manually upload to google? 1-What I was trying to do was to upload an html/text sitemap for our visitors onto my site--what's the best way to do this?

2- Part of the reason I am concerned about my sitemap is thath G has a bad link as the #2 listing under a search for RentalProperties.com

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=re ... erties.com

the second link is a dead link but has been listed for at least six weeks--I tried notifying G 2-3 weeks ago, but it is still up.

Anything else I can do?

Many thanks! I am so glad I found your service!

Marie Benz
[email protected]

[MaxPowers]

AutoMapIt supplies your site with 6 sitemap formats including the XML sitemap that Google is looking for in Webmaster Tools and a human-readable HTML sitemap.

The HTML sitemap that AutoMapIt produces is rather plain, but if you have skills with HTML, it is easy to use the HTML customization page and to add code from your template that will be used above the links and below the links... this is basically what a website is anyway... code above and below your actual page content.

All you have to do is link to /sitemap.html and AutoMapIt will keep it updated over time!

This gives you a seamless integration with your site. If you visit the HTML sitemaps at AutoMapIt, you will see they look like all of my other pages. This was done on the HTML Customization page once when I started with this template and every update adds new links, but the same exact look and feel I use on the rest of my site.

I have looked at the second link on that result. It is odd to see Google list a URL that returns a 404, but I'm too sure that this will be removed naturally by their system.

This may be a good place to mention using custom 404 pages to help redirect human visitors into your site versus having them look at that default screen. Just be careful that you don't create a custom 404 error page that tells Google it's 200 (Found). You can use the HTTP Header Checker at http://www.automapit.com/headerchecker.html to verify that your custom 404 is returning a 404 HTTP Status code.

If any of this was too technical, there are some great tutorials on the web for what I've explained here. They get into a lot of the details that I can't cover in just one post.

[mariebenz]

is this what I should do?

just upload?

http://www.rentalproperties.com/sitemap.html to my server via ftp?
(I did try this but got the google message that is was not in a google supported format).

Marie

[MaxPowers]

This sitemap will be uploaded automatically whenever AutoMapIt updates your site. There is no need for you to upload/download anything since you are using the FTP tool at AutoMapIt already!

Google would complain about that sitemap, for sure. They are looking for the .xml version which is at /sitemap.xml on your site.

Since you are using my Automatic FTP tool for this site, all 6 of your sitemap formats will automatically be uploaded to your site every time it updates itself.

...just be sure that you change which sitemap you are submitting to Google in your Webmaster Tools account.