Google Sitemap Submission Made Easy!

the users now no longer have to specify the Sitemap file type in order to submit a Sitemap to Google! The search engine will now automatically determine as to what type of data is being submitted… In short – Sitemap submission has now become easier!

Here is the list of sitemap file formats supported by Google
Part of what makes the web so interesting is that there are so many different kinds of content out there. Do you use videos on your website? If so, send us a Video Sitemap file so that we can send you visitors to those videos! Do you host source-code samples? Submit a Code Search Sitemap! Here are the various kinds of Sitemap files that Google supports at the moment:

• XML Sitemap files for web pages – Use these files to submit all of your web pages (this is the preferred format for web pages). While not all search engines may support the Sitemap types listed below, the XML Sitemap for web pages is supported by all search engines of sitemaps.org.
• RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 feeds for web pages – Many blogs create these automatically.
• Text files with web page URLs – If you can’t automatically create one of the above formats, you can create a text file with your URLs in it.
• XML Sitemap files for Video Search – Videos on your website can be indexed and made available for Google Video Search.
• Media-RSS feeds for Video Search – mRSS feeds are used by various other systems, we can use these for Google Video Search as well.
• XML Sitemap files for Google Code Search – If you make programming samples or code available to your users, you can submit these for Google Code Search.
• XML Sitemap files for mobile web pages – Using this kind of format allows us to recognize content that has been optimized for mobile devices (please note that there was recently a small change in the format).
• XML Sitemap files for geo-data – If you have geographic data on your website in the form of KML or GeoRSS files, please let us know about these files.
• XML Sitemap files for News – News websites can submit their news content in this special Sitemap format (please note that you must first register with Google News before these files are processed).

What to do when your Google rankings have dropped…..

<!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>Three reasons why your Google rankings might have dropped

There are several reasons that can cause a ranking drop:

1. You changed your web pages. After a web page change, Google temporarily downranks web pages. This process has been described in a Google patent. In that case, you don’t have to worry about the ranking drop and you’ll get your old (or better) rankings back after some time.
2. Other web pages are better than yours. No web page can keep its rankings forever. Your competitors might have built better web pages with better content and better inbound links. In that case, optimize your web page content for your keywords and try to get better inbound links.
3. Google thinks that you use spam elements on your web pages and applied a penalty to your website. In that case, you have to file a reinclusion request.

How to find out if your website has been penalized

Search for your domain name on Google. If your website does not come as the first result, it’s likely that it has been penalized.

If Google cannot find any page of your website if you search for “site:yourdomain.com” (replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name) then it’s nearly sure that your website has been penalized.

Action plan: what you can do to get your rankings back
Before you ask Google to reconsider your website, you should make sure that everything is okay with your site:

1. Fix all on-site issues that might have caused the problem.

   If you use hidden text or nearly hidden text on your website then remove it. Reconsider any use of display:none and visibility:hidden that you use in the CSS code of your website.

   If you use keyword lists or any other form of keyword stuffing on your web pages, then remove these elements. Check your web page titles, the meta tags and even HTML comments.

   Remove any unnecessary redirects, unrelated links and all duplicate pages. If you use cloaking or bot blocking scripts on your server, disable these scripts. Make sure that your HTML code is clean and that your web pages look nice. Don’t use any automatically created doorway pages.

2. Fix all off-site issues.

   Off-site issues are often the reason for ranking penalties. If you participated in automated link exchange systems of if you paid a cheap overseas link building service to get links to your website then it’s likely that these links have been flagged as spam links by Google.

   Google does not like automated link systems at all. Remove all automated link systems from your website and try to make sure that these linking systems do not link anymore to your site.

   If you purchased links to improve your rankings, try to get rid of these links. Google has officially stated that they consider paid links spam. Do not buy links.

How to file a reinclusion request

When you have removed all on-site and off-site elements that could have been flagged by Google, you can file a reinclusion request.

Keep your reinclusion request short and to the point. Be friendly and explain what exactly you have done to clean up your website.

Ranking drops can cost your business a lot of money. For that reason, you shouldn’t use any search engine optimization services that promise quick-fix solutions. If something looks too good, too inexpensive or too easy to be true then it probably isn’t true.

If you use ethical search engine optimization methods to optimize your web pages then you can be sure that your website gets high rankings without offending Google. It can take longer to get high rankings with ethical methods but you will also keep your high rankings much longer.

Windows Live Search rumoured to be rebranded

Microsoft has been rumoured to be rebranding its Windows Live Search, according to various reports.

The computing giant is expected to rebrand the service to Kumo.com, with LiveSide confirming the company has bought the domain name and is directing internal traffic there.

Speaking on its blog, the website said: “While Microsoft employees have admitted publicly that there are branding issues around Live Search, we’re not quite ready to stick our heads above the parapet and say that Kumo will be the new brand name.”

Citing a source within the company, a TechCrunch report found the rebranded site is expected to launch in early 2009 – something search engine optimisation specialists may have time to plan for.

The website also adds the brand name could still change.

In other news, Microsoft’s senior program manager of search engine optimisation has been interviewed by a magazine.

Duanne Forrester said, even with the current economic climate, digital website marketing continues to hold up.

He added the methods are adapting to the changing marketplace – with online marketing leading the way as it is easily editable.