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Google XML Sitemaps Integration
What are Google XML Sitemaps?
How does Google Use Sitemaps?
What is Sitemaps Autodiscovery?
How do I Create a Google Sitemap?
Why use Google XML Sitemaps?
Google XML Sitemaps Integration & Captures Ecommerce Stores
Captures recommends that each merchant who signs up for an ecommerce store package begin using one or several different Google compliant XML sitemaps. We are excited to announce that we have included a feature that builds Google XML Sitemaps on-the-fly for category and product pages. Having one or more sitemaps in a supported format will make it easy for Google to discover all your page locations, content and links. Read more about XML Sitemaps below, or learn more about integrating your store with other Google services.
Captures ecommerce stores allow merchants to fully utilize the benefits of creating and submitting a Google compliant XML sitemap for quick and easy indexing of all your store pages. Start using the Captures ecommerce software today to get setup with a Google XML Sitemap in minutes and begin notifying Google about any and all content you wish for them to find and list within their search index. Experience the fastest way to get found by Google.
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What are Google XML Sitemaps?
Google XML Sitemap files allow Captures merchants to tell Google about all the pages on their site, and optionally, information about those pages, such as which are the most important and how often the content on them changes. By submitting Google a Sitemap file, you will be in control of the first part (most crucial) of Google's crawling and indexing processes or discovery of your pages. Sitemaps may be particularly helpful if your store has any dynamic content, pages that are not easily discovered by following links, or if your store is new to the Net and has few links pointing to it. A Google XML Sitemap provides an additional view into your store (just as your home page and HTML site map do). The XML Sitemaps program does not replace Google's normal methods of crawling the web and your store will never be penalized by Google for using an XML Sitemap in this manner.
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How does Google Use Sitemaps?
Google, along with other major search engines, like to know about new fresh content as soon as it's published to the Web. There are several ways to notify Google that you know about such content that needs to be listed with a specific search index. One way is to manually submit your content to Google, which generally takes them the longest to find and list. You may also wish to let Google find your new content on their own during regular crawling, which can also take longer to list all your pages. Finally, you can build, submit and update special sitemap files, which seems to be the best method. If you asked Google which way they prefer they would most likely get told to use a Google compliant XML Sitemap built using Sitemaps protocol. Captures does just that, gives Google what they want in the formats they recommend you use to be the most successful.
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What is Sitemaps Autodiscovery?
Sitemaps autodiscovery is a new way for search engines to find the locations of specified sitemap files and the urls within them. Google, Yahoo!, MSN/Live.com and Ask.com have all announced that they will be supporting this new standard in search. The autodiscovery format allows you to notify the major search engines (using robots.txt file) where your store sitemaps are located, which elminates the need to submit your sitemaps to each search engine seperately. Quite simply, sitemaps autodicovery is another way to help search engines find your products, and pages, which can open up several new potential doorways for users to enter your store.
See what the major search engines have to say about sitemaps autodiscovery and why you should consider using it to notify search engines: Google, Ask.com, Yahoo!, MSN
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How do I Create a Google Sitemap?
Google can accept Sitemaps in a number of different formats, however Google encourages the use of Sitemaps that make use of Google's Sitemap protocol, both because it enables store owners to provide additional information about their pages beyond just the URLs, and because Google offers this protocol under the terms of the Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License so that other search engines can make use of it. Google hopes that site owners will be able to create a single Sitemap for all search engines to use. All Sitemaps, regardless of format, have the same or mostly similar guidelines. Captures uses the format recommended by Google (sitemap protocol) when creating Sitemap files for categories and products. Sitemap protocol is an open-source Google-created protocol in XML format. A Sitemap file that uses the Sitemap protocol can contain a list of URLs for your site, along with useful information about those URLs. Merchants who manage a store built using Captures ecommerce software will never have to worry about creating or updating their sitemap files. The sitemap creation process is fully automated and will update your sitemaps any time you add new content to your store. To submit the files, simply login to your Captures administrative area and notify Google.
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Why use Google XML Sitemaps?
Google Sitemaps will help speed up the processes Google uses during the discovery of your store pages, which is an important first step in crawling and indexing your pages, but there are many other factors that influence the crawling and indexing processes. Other factors include how many sites link to you, if your content is unique and relevant, if they can crawl the pages successfully, and everything outlined in Google's webmaster guidelines. XML Sitemaps allow you tell Google required and optional information about your pages (which ones you think are most important, how often the pages change), so you can have a voice in the processes Google uses to find and list your store.
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