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Thursday, June 11, 2009
Did you know that the number of website hosts that have been submitting Sitemap files has almost
tripled over the last year? It's no wonder: the secret is out - as a
recent research study
showed, Sitemaps helps search engines to find new and changed content faster. Using Sitemaps
doesn't guarantee that your site will be crawled and indexed completely, but it certainly helps
us understand your website better.
Google and the other search engines which are a part of
Sitemaps.org
now support up to 50,000 child Sitemaps for
Sitemap index files
(instead of the previous 1,000). This allows large sites to submit a theoretical maximum of
2.5 billion URLs with a single Sitemap Index URL (oh, and if you need more, you can always
submit multiple Sitemap index files).
The
Webmaster Tools design update
now shows you all Sitemap files that were submitted for your verified website. This is
particularly useful if you have multiple owners verified in Webmaster Tools or if you are
submitting some Sitemap files via
HTTP ping
or through your robots.txt
file.
The
indexed URL count
in Webmaster Tools for your Sitemap files is now even more precise.
For the XML developers out there, we've updated the
XSD schemas
to allow Sitemap extensions. The new schema helps webmasters to create better Sitemaps by
verifying more features. By validating Sitemap files with the new schema, you can be more
confident that the Sitemap files are correct.
Do I need to mention that Sitemap file processing is much faster than ever before? We've
drastically reduced the average time from submitting a Sitemap file to processing it and
showing some initial data in Webmaster Tools.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe use of Sitemap files has significantly increased, aiding search engines in discovering website content more efficiently.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle now supports a substantially larger number of child Sitemaps, enabling websites to submit billions of URLs for indexing.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe updated Webmaster Tools provide a comprehensive view of submitted Sitemap files and offer more precise indexed URL counts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle has enhanced Sitemap file processing speed, resulting in quicker data display within Webmaster Tools.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDevelopers can leverage updated XSD schemas for improved Sitemap creation and validation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Sitemap submissions have tripled, aiding search engines in discovering new and updated content. Sitemap index files now support up to 50,000 child Sitemaps, enabling the submission of billions of URLs. The Webmaster Tools update displays all submitted Sitemaps, the indexed URL count is more precise, and Sitemap processing time is faster. Updated XSD schemas allow for Sitemap extensions and validation, improving correctness. Support resources are available in the Help Center and forum.\n"],null,["Thursday, June 11, 2009\n\n\nDid you know that the number of website hosts that have been submitting Sitemap files has almost\ntripled over the last year? It's no wonder: the secret is out - as a\n[recent research study](/search/blog/2009/04/research-study-of-sitemaps)\nshowed, Sitemaps helps search engines to find new and changed content faster. Using Sitemaps\ndoesn't guarantee that your site will be crawled and indexed completely, but it certainly helps\nus understand your website better.\n\n\nTogether with the\n[Webmaster Tools design update](/search/blog/2009/06/out-with-old-in-with-new),\nwe've been working on Sitemaps as well:\n\n- Google and the other search engines which are a part of [Sitemaps.org](https://www.sitemaps.org/index.html) now support up to 50,000 child Sitemaps for [Sitemap index files](https://www.sitemaps.org/index.html) (instead of the previous 1,000). This allows large sites to submit a theoretical maximum of 2.5 billion URLs with a single Sitemap Index URL (oh, and if you need more, you can always submit multiple Sitemap index files).\n- The [Webmaster Tools design update](/search/blog/2009/04/spring-time-design-refresh) now shows you all Sitemap files that were submitted for your verified website. This is particularly useful if you have multiple owners verified in Webmaster Tools or if you are submitting some Sitemap files via [HTTP ping](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34609) or through your [robots.txt](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview) file.\n- The [indexed URL count](/search/blog/2009/03/using-stats-from-site-and-sitemap) in Webmaster Tools for your Sitemap files is now even more precise.\n- For the XML developers out there, we've updated the [XSD schemas](https://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9/) to allow Sitemap extensions. The new schema helps webmasters to create better Sitemaps by verifying more features. By validating Sitemap files with the new schema, you can be more confident that the Sitemap files are correct.\n- Do I need to mention that Sitemap file processing is much faster than ever before? We've drastically reduced the average time from submitting a Sitemap file to processing it and showing some initial data in Webmaster Tools.\n\n\nFor more information about using Sitemaps, make sure to check out our blog post about\n[frequently asked questions on Sitemaps](/search/blog/2008/01/sitemaps-faqs)\nand our\n[Help Center](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview). If you have any questions that\naren't covered here, don't forget to\n[search our Help Forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community)\nand start a thread in the\n[Sitemaps section](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community/)\nfor more help.\n\n\nWritten by\n[John Mueller](https://johnmu.com/),\nWebmaster Trends Analyst, Google Switzerland"]]
