Drupal XML sitemap & Site verification modules

Submitted by BeatnikDude on Sun, 10/18/2009 - 20:36

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We use Drupal XML sitemap and Site verification modules to notify search engines of updated content and the priority of that content.

The Site XML sitemap module creates a sitemap that conforms w/ the sitemaps.org specification. This allows search engines to intelligently crawl a website and keep the results up to date. The sitemap created by the module can be automatically submitted to Ask, Google, Bing and Yahoo!. The module comes with submodules that can add sitemap links for content, menu items, taxonomy terms, and user profiles.

It is recommended to use the Site verification module to validate with Google and Yahoo!:
The Site verification module assists with the site/domain ownership authentication/verification for search engines. There are two types of verification methods supported: adding meta tags, or uploading a specific file.

In this quick and dirty write up I am using Site XML sitemap module 6.x-2.x, which is currently listed as unstable but it includes options for the views and taxonomy listings that I need.

Site XML sitemap module Project page (Drupal 5 & 6): http://drupal.org/project/xmlsitemap
- Site XML sitemap module usage statistics: http://drupal.org/project/usage/xmlsitemap
Site verification module Project page (Drupal 5 & 6): http://drupal.org/project/site_verify
- Site verification module usage statistics: http://drupal.org/project/usage/site_verify

Instructions

read the xmlsitemap/README.txt
read the xmlsitemap/INSTALL.txt
install & enable Site XML sitemap module XML sitemap >> XML sitemap
- enable XML Sitemap Engines module XML sitemap >> XML Sitemap Engines
- enable XML sitemap node module XML sitemap >> XML sitemap node
- configure @ /admin/settings/xmlsitemap
  - check "Use stylesheet"
  - check all search engines @ admin/settings/xmlsitemap/engines
  - edit content types priorities and inclusion @ /admin/content/types/list
  - view and validate XML site-map @ http://example-url.com/sitemap.xml
  - manage content @ /admin/content (change "promoted to front page", "update path alias", etc.)
Adding taxonomy terms to your sitemap
- enable XML sitemap taxonomy module XML sitemap >> XML sitemap taxonomy
- edit taxonomy priorities and inclusion @ /admin/content/taxonomy
Adding Views pages to the XML sitemap by adding menu items to your sitemap
- enable XML sitemap menu module XML sitemap >> XML sitemap menu
- edit content types priorities and inclusion @ /admin/build/menu
- add a menu to add view pages to, call it: "sitemap-views"
  - set it to be included and it's priority
- edit views pages to be included on this menu @ admin/build/views
  - set to "Normal menu entry", edit the title and add it to your "sitemap-views" menu
Submitting your XML sitemap to search engines
- select all sitemaps @ /admin/settings/xmlsitemap
  - Google & Yahoo require validation, (see Site verification module below)
  - Bing, Ask.com & Moreover do not need validation to submit a sitemap
- Install & Enable Site verification module Other >> Site Verification
  - configure @ /admin/build/site-verify
- Validate w/ Google, login into https://www.google.com/webmasters/
  - Add Web site
  - Get Meta Tag
    - if using Advanced Front Page, temporarily turn it off while validating with Meta Tags
  - Add Meta tag to Google Search Engine @ /admin/build/site-verify/add/google
  - Verify site @ https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools
    - Submit a sitemap via Site configuration >> Sitemaps
    - Verify Google read the sitemap
- Validate w/ Yahoo, login into https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/mysites
  - Add Web site
  - Get Meta Tag
    - if using Advanced Front Page, temporarily turn it off while validating with Meta Tags
  - Add Meta tag to Yahoo Search Engine http://bbros.us/admin/build/site-verify/add/yahoo
  - Authenticate your site to Yahoo: https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/mysitesuthenticated
- Submit your site to Bing: http://www.bing.com/docs/submit.aspx
  - Note, Webmaster page: http://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmasters/
Notable notes:
- Currently the front page is duplicated within the XML sitemap ??
- rebuilding the XML sitemap is handy @ /admin/settings/xmlsitemap/rebuild
- views and other items could be added by enabling XML sitemap custom vs. using XML sitemap menu
- adding custom links, like Views pages, is only available in the 6.x-2.x version of the Site verification module and this is currently unstable
- if you are using the Advanced Front page you will need to temporarily turn it off to use Meta Tag