CoreCommerce

Recently, we talked about how to verify your store’s site with Google Webmaster Tools and why it’s important to do so.

Now let’s talk about how to start using the Webmaster Tools. The very first thing you should do is to upload your sitemap.

What are sitemaps and why are they important?

A search engine sitemap is an XML file, normally called sitemap.xml, that contains a list of all the pages on your site. This file normally sits at the top of your directory in your server and points the search engines to your site.

Most of the time, search engines can easily find your pages on their own, but sometimes they have problems crawling dynamic content or pages that aren’t linked together and need help. Google uses the data in your site map as sort of a road map, to ensure that they find everything you want them to find.

Uploading your sitemap ensures that the Google bots will find each and every unique page your site has to offer. The more unique content you have with your business’s relevant keywords, the more potential you have to rank higher in the search engines.

How to upload your sitemap

CoreCommerce can dynamically create a sitemap for you! Here’s a step by step guide:

• Navigate to the “Settings” link in the top right hand corner of your admin area and click on “Store Settings”.
• Click on “Build Sitemap.” CoreCommerce will now automatically build your sitemap file and place it in your top most directory for non-Google search engines.
• In your browser address bar, type your store’s address followed by sitemap.xml, for example: www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
• Click on File > save in your browser and save it to your desktop.
• After you logged in to Google’s Webmaster Tools, click on “Site configuration” in the left hand bar of links and then click on “Sitemaps”
• From here, follow the prompts to upload your sitemap.

Sitemaps are essential to the search engine optimization of your site and it’s visibility to potential customers, so don’t overlook this handy file!