X-Map (sitemap creation)
Of course you can always create your sitemap.xml file for Google manually, using an on-line sitemap generator like xml-sitemaps.com. Especially for smaller sites with rather static content this should be perfect for SEO purposes.
However, if your site is changing often, or if you also would like to offer an HTML sitemap for your visitors, an extensions that does the work for you would be perfect. There are a number of sitemap extensions on the JED. The one that is by far the most popular is XMap. Xmap creates a sitemap based on the menustructure of your Joomla website. It is a non-commercial component.
Xmap creates both an HTML and an XML sitemap, and it supports the following content:
- Joomla Content
- K2
- Kunena
- Mosets Tree
- SobiPro
- Virtuemart
- WebLinks
Installation
First download Xmpap and install ith through the Joomla Extension Manager. Then go to Components >> Xmap >> Extensions and activate the extensions you have on your site.
Then go to "Sitemaps" and create your sitemap. You can do so by selecting the menu's on your site. After doing so, you have a sitemap:
When you click on the link for the XML-sitemap, you are routed to a link where it is located. Record this link and use it to submit your Joomla sitemap to Google in the Webmaster Tools.
In order to offer the sitemap to your users, also create a menu-item for it.
Alternatives sitemap extensions for Joomla
There are 2 more extensions listed on the JED that seem to work quite nice:
- JSitemap: Commercial. Not tested personally, but from the documentation and the reviews this seems an excellent alternative, only 5 stars reviews. If Xmap does not work out for you, try this one.
- JCrawler: Non-commercial. Seems more basic, just for creating your XML-sitemap, which could be just what you need. Only available for Joomla 2.5 currently