Does Xenforo need a Sitemap or not?

[trantai]

Our site(www.vfpress.vn) is using this Add On (Sitemap for XenForo), but some time we see that google indexing of our site change ( from 113k indexed down to 50k Indexed, sometime down to 30k indexed).
I check xenforo.com and see that Xenforo has not Sitemap.
Finally, Xenforo does need a Sitemap or Not, please?

 

[AndyB]

My understanding is that sitemaps are something that was need a very long time ago to aid search engines and is not needed or wanted any longer.

 

[Rigel Kentaurus]

Our site(www.vfpress.vn) is using this Add On (Sitemap for XenForo), but some time we see that google indexing of our site change ( from 113k indexed down to 50k Indexed, sometime down to 30k indexed).
I check xenforo.com and see that Xenforo has not Sitemap.
Finally, Xenforo does need a Sitemap or Not, please?

It actually helps a lot for giving hints to the robots. I have had a couple of sites that were not appearing on the index, and after adding a sitemap, it was there the next day. So it certainly does work.

But it varies, though, if you have a popular site, or the threads are linked from different places, Google will pick up the changes really fast, I have seen the index being updated in hours and minutes lately, so by the time the URL is in the sitemap it becomes redundant.

Another advantage of having a sitemap is that you can login to Google Webmaster Tools and check how many pages are actually indexed from the map.

 

[Paul B]

Don't have one, never had one.

 

[trantai]

Don't have one, never had one.

Reason why?

 

[usAdultAds]

Any error messages in your webmaster tools?

Did you consult with the sitemap dev?

Maybe you then should remove the sitemap and see what happens
if you indexing is still falling, cant hurt to remove it at this point....

This what i do not like about installing unknowns, google is so picky these
days...you never know what change you make to your site that will
cause google to dislike you; it does suck to hear your stats falling
after installing an addon, and I am not saying it is the fault
of the addon, just do not know at this point, but seems rather weird....

Our site(www.vfpress.vn) is using this Add On (Sitemap for XenForo), but some time we see that google indexing of our site change ( from 113k indexed down to 50k Indexed, sometime down to 30k indexed).
I check xenforo.com and see that Xenforo has not Sitemap.
Finally, Xenforo does need a Sitemap or Not, please?

 

[Paul B]

Reason why?

Never needed one.

Google is perfectly capable of indexing my site without any "help" from me.

 

[usAdultAds]

completely understandble, all old school, all the time....
There are a few big boards today there never once used such toys....

These kids today think if they do not have a sitemap, seo url mod, or the next addon,
then they think their board will fail; addons make the forum look pretty, thats it,
they do not make or break the forum from success; failure is the result of the webmaster,
not how short, or long the url is, pretty dressed up urls, addons, and so on...
this isnt the 90's any more, it takes 100 times more effort to get a site going
then it used too, and do you think these sites in the past succeed because
they had all these fancy addon's? oh wait, there were no fancy addons back then....

dont get me wrong, toys are nice to have, but having a toy installed
never made me rich, and if i fail its because of me, not my toys....

Never needed one.

Google is perfectly capable of indexing my site without any "help" from me.

 

[Crayo]

If it doesn't do harm, and it can potentially do good, why not?

 

[usAdultAds]

as long as google rules are followed, sure whats the harm...
think about it, just because you have a sitemap, do you think it
is going to leap you years ahead of everyone else? The same with SEO
mod, do you think google is going to love you better because you have
pretty looking urls...? these days, i think not...so why would a sitemap be any different?

I think google would just prefer you be your self, using natural url format...

If it doesn't do harm, and it can potentially do good, why not?

 

[usAdultAds]

I should get a free copy of xenforo for giving away my secrets, but I am going to give
you the best advice on this planet on how to succeed....

1: Quality Design
2: Quality Content
3: Quality Backlinks
4: and maybe years of patience....

But if your biggest worry or focus is on sitemap, seo urls, or some addon, then you are already doomed....

 

[AndyB]

If it doesn't do harm, and it can potentially do good, why not?

The last thing you want is Google indexing sitemap links. I recall this being a problem in that past with sitemaps and it might still be a problem.

IMHO there's zero need for a sitemap and it could only cause problems.

 

[Rigel Kentaurus]

Let me quote Google itself
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=156184

In most cases, webmasters will benefit from Sitemap submission, and in no case will you be penalized for it.

Do you have a reference on where you got that? What kind of problems?
That is definitely not true

The only instance in which a sitemap would be an issue is if you are including in your sitemap a bunch of links for automatically generated pages and crap content, or scraped off other websites content.

Provided people don't do senseless things like that, it should be fine.

 

[usAdultAds]

there is no such thing as a bad sitemap....
Only a bad coder that may have created the sitemap.

I have heard of many instances over the years of people making small changes on their site then end up
completely getting dumped by google...so if the sitemap contains bad coding, then that could turn
google off completely, maybe google thinks the site is bad then starts de-indexing pages....
sometime similar to the op has said "I installed sitemap" then noticed de-indexing in progress....
maybe there is some type of bad code that google just does not like....

There is probably zero need for any type of addon...but people use them due to modern
times, like using seo urls...seo urls are not going to make you famous, it is only
going to make your url pretty so the url itself is not ugly, but people these days are
brain-washed, they think if they do not have the latest trick addon, then they will fail....
and they will because that is all they are thinking about...addon this, mod that...gotta have that mod...

The last thing you want is Google indexing sitemap links. I recall this being a problem in that past with sitemaps and it might still be a problem.

IMHO there's zero need for a sitemap and it could only cause problems.

 

[usAdultAds]

Your logo looks familer...you the one that created the sitemap that caused this guy to de-index?
j/k Is that even possible? can even a bug or glitch in the code cause google to de-list your site?

Let me quote Google itself
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=156184



Do you have a reference on where you got that? What kind of problems?
That is definitely not true

The only instance in which a sitemap would be an issue is if you are including in your sitemap a bunch of links for automatically generated pages and crap content, or scraped off other websites content.

Provided people don't do senseless things like that, it should be fine.

 

[Rigel Kentaurus]

Your logo looks familer...you the one that created the sitemap that caused this guy to de-index?
j/k Is that even possible? can even a bug or glitch in the code cause google to de-list your site?

No, not likely
It is more likely that the person's server is returning a bunch of 404, 503, or 500, which makes the crawlers give up and stop indexing the site, or if the web site starts becoming slow the crawler is also modified.

Blaming the sitemap would really be looking for a scapegoat. I would go to health -> crawl errors in Google Webmaster Tools and check the actual reason why a URL could not be reached.

Another thing to know is that Google has a multi-datacenter multi-tier architecture, it is completely possible that one time you get a number and another time you get another one.

Just look at these two (I just took them right now)



..... wow, between refreshes Google "lost" 10,000 pages.
Is it that they were dropped from the index?

Well, of course not. It just means your search went to a different fleet that doesn't happen to have those 10,000. You are not always going against the same index necessarily.

I do not recommend checking Google Webmaster Tools daily, it will drive you crazy. First of all, it is slow. Your website loads slow on a Monday, it reports that the friday next week, it might show up that some pages are not indexed but you search and there they are ..

It is a GOOD reference, but not a foolproof system. Don't put too much into into it. Optimize for SEO a little bit because it is good sense to do so (you wouldn't create a business but fail to add it to the yellow pages, would you?), and then move on to working on your site, and working on the content, since that is what will keep the visitors and attract even more

 

[usAdultAds]

Yes, always keep your site clean of errors...
sometimes you just get lazy, and they just build up....
keep your site clean...

No, not likely
It is more likely that the person's server is returning a bunch of 404, 503, or 500, which makes the crawlers give up and stop indexing the site, or if the web site starts becoming slow the crawler is also modified.

Yes, Quality content, and keep content updated, so google keeps coming back....
Before you know it, may take some time, then you get the snowball effect....

It is a GOOD reference, but not a foolproof system. Don't put too much into into it. Optimize for SEO a little bit because it is good sense to do so (you wouldn't create a business but fail to add it to the yellow pages, would you?), and then move on to working on your site, and working on the content, since that is what will keep the visitors and attract even more

People these days just want to see instant success...
those days are long over; just settle in for the long
haul; setting up a site today can certainly take years to
start rolling; I seen one site up for 5 years, and only had 300k posts,
another site 5 years 800k posts; Like with anything, you will
have to be prepared to work your site to ever be successful...
there are no magic pills like sitemaps, seo urls, and so on....
and if you think you are just going to sit there, and think your
site is going to succeed for you while you watch tv, then your doomed....

 

[DRE]

I think sitemaps are useless if they aren't being pushed to other search engines other than Google. This has been my experience with playing around with different sitemaps with Wordpress software. If the sitemap addon didn't have a ping type service that pushed your sitemap to other search engines then it made no difference in SEO.

 

[Brandon Sheley]

Sitemaps are a good thing to have and they won't hurt your site, that's for sure.

 

[usAdultAds]

I think Search Engines other then google appear to be dead....
for every 10,000 hits I get from google, I may get 1 hit from another engine.....

I think sitemaps are useless if they aren't being pushed to other search engines other than Google. This has been my experience with playing around with different sitemaps with Wordpress software. If the sitemap addon didn't have a ping type service that pushed your sitemap to other search engines then it made no difference in SEO.