Are Sitemaps Important? • More a Requirement
Creating a site-map for the sake of having one is, in fact, redundant, but if you understand the importance of a well-constructed site-map, you will then be able to tailor the site-map to your own specific needs.
Here are some reasons on why you should create a site-map and utilize it in your website designs.
Navigation
The site-map itself is what the name portrays – a topographical map to your website. If an end user browses your site and gets lost throughout the endless information your site has to offer, they can always refer to your site-map for navigation.
Site Optimization
A site-map is a single page which will contain a link to each of the other pages your site contains. If a search engine spider comes across your site-map what do you think will happen? They will follow each link and in time, every page of your site will be indexed. This is good. It is also for this purpose that a link to the sitemap should be placed prominently on the front page of your site.
Theme
When an end user clicks the site-map link on your website they can get a glimpse of the overall theme you are trying to portray. Forcing the end user to look through each page individually to make an intelligent guess as to your reasoning would be a waste of the end users time and the goal of any website design.
Organization
Not only for the end user… a site-map also helps with the creation of the website design process. It gives the designer a birds-eye view of the entire site infrastructure allowing a more general idea of where to place new content and sections. The result becomes a perfectly organized website with all information sorted according to its relevance.
It is most important to implement a site-map for website projects with a considerable size. This allows for a well-organized machine that is easily accessible for everyone, including the one doing the designing.