XML sitemaps protocol adopted by major search engines
XML sitemaps (as opposed to the graphical or people-readable list sitemaps) are a way for search engines to index web pages more easily/efficiently… Google has been using them for a while and now Yahoo and MSN have agreed to come on board.

The assumption is that if a search engine can index you more easily then your ranking will be more “accurate.” Internet ecologists might also hope this will reduce network traffic (thereby freeing up valuable bandwidth for spam!).

The Portable Consultant is not very concerned about his blog traffic at this point, but now that some big engines are using the same protocol it seemed like a good time to look into how this might be done in WordPress.

Of course a WordPress sitemap plugin was immediately located. Written by Arne Brachhold, it provides a simple setup screen and connects to Google by default. After a quick test the plugin was installed and it immediately pinged Google to let them know important data was ready for them and, in turn, you.

Yahoo seems to require a more complex process and I had trouble finding the instructions (they’re here). MSN will, of course, be the last to implement sitemap registration.

Now some major search engines will know that this posting is ready to index so that I can tell you, dear blogger, how to increase the ease with which your blog postings will discovered by readers in London, New York, Tokyo, and One Tree Hill.

Cheers,
-pmh