Thread: Google site map - ror.xml

Hi anyone...

Yesterday (All Day!) I tried to upload my site map with the kind help of LadyEye who provided the most specific details for me (Idiot proof!) which I followed to the letter - I checked and re-checked all spelling and the proceedure but google keeps telling me there are errors... firstly can I obtain the errors from gooogle and other than that - does anyone know why this may be happening?

Thanks - Ogreslayer

Can you give me the link (url) of your website ...

Hi .......

And thanks again .......... its: www.life-guru.com (I have hidden the 'site map inside the photo of the scales just in case you were looking for it).

Ogreslayer........

Hi again ...

I don't see any errors appear when I create a sitemap for your site from my computer here ...

And you uploaded the file generated to your public_html directory ...

I would think that the problem lies within the fact that you have hidden the sitemap link in your image but the link is not accessible ...

Instead, I would - type the word sitemap - use 6pt or so and place it on your index page (bottom left or something) - and you need to link the word sitemap to the ror file you generated.

Are you comfortable with text linking??

I suspect this is where the problem lies.

hi

Had to dash out so appologies for the delay... Will do as instructed (I created a text link to the index page as per the tutorial) -can I use the current site map text already done on the index page (It is in No. 6 text) as long as its visible?

Sure ... I see your sitemap text - that is what you now link to the ror file that you uploaded via the ftp method to your public_html directory ... right ???

Hi.......

I'm almost ready for 'giving-up !!' ...... Think I need a break from this for a day... done too much and so confused now - I'm not too sure where the h*ll I am.... tried re-doing the site map but now google is saying I need to put my site on my account and giving me a 404 error - but the site is already verified... Is life quiet in Canada - I need somewhere lonely I can go a scream !!

Thanks for your help so far - you must either have the patience of a saint or very thick skin to cope with us 'amatures'.

Ogreslayer.

lol ... okay, well at least you are keeping your humor thoughout all of this - Life in Canada is quiet, lol, would likely put you to sleep ...

I have a ton of patience, no problem there at all ...

So what you are saying is that with your google account, it is not taking the url of your website ...

What I notice about your site is that all links are not working ... so a 404 error usually relates to this ...

You do need to have all of your pages linked and working before you build a sitemap ...

this would be the reason ...

Hiya

If by 'links' you mean the slide bar - then the pages that are not yet linked are not yet finished/published... is this a problem - should i remove them from the slide bar until published?

No, I would recommend that you wait until you finish your site before you put in a site map for google seo's ... google will find your site with or without a site map - dead or non-working links are not good for anyone - so I would also remove those links until the pages are made and published ...

thanks - I'm in such a god awful rush to get it up and running - I am trying to run before I can walk... (And I hate using cliches). Thanks again - Watch this space.... 'I'll be back' !!

Originally Posted by ogreslayer

thanks - I'm in such a god awful rush to get it up and running - I am trying to run before I can walk... (And I hate using cliches). Thanks again - Watch this space.... 'I'll be back' !!

Okay ... will do ... lol ... just take your time ... you will be fine ... no need to rush a good thing right ... :)

Hi

Hope you get this.... message from Google is that my site map is linked to my URL and not the ror file... ?????

http://www.life-guru.com/ror.xml

That should be the link that you apply to the little word sitemap

Highlight the word sitemap - go to Insert Link - type in the above link and republish your page ...

Check in your control panel ... go to file manager, fine and doubleclick the file folder public_html - make certain there is a file in there called ror.xml

If there is, you should be all set ...

Hiya.....

Well - its there just as you describe and the link name is http://www.life-guru.com/ror.xml Google still giving me the 404 error.

I've deleted all those non published files/pages - resubmitted site (after changes) and added site map but still not reccognised.

Originally Posted by LadyEye

No, I would recommend that you wait until you finish your site before you put in a site map for google seo's ... google will find your site with or without a site map - dead or non-working links are not good for anyone - so I would also remove those links until the pages are made and published ...

My sitemap never worked the way I wanted it to so today I'm going back (which was only last month but now feels like last year, LOL) and re-doing it from scratch as I 1st did it way back before I had finished my index page. I now have a couple of NEW pages I'm working (not yet published) on which are not directly linked via a menu to the index but are at the end of my domain name. Would I need to put a new sitemap on those pages also or use the same one I created for the index page? Thanks in advance LE

Lucy

Hi Lucy

thanks for your comments... how necessary is the sitemap (If you know) whith regard to people finding you through Google etc. and for ranking puroposes... where do you rank currently?

regards

William......

Hi William

Please show me where you have applied the link http://www.life-guru.com/ror.xml on your index page?

I see the word site map in small text but it is not linked .. ??

okaaaaaaaaaaaay - thinking now (Rare for me!) - This is what i did.... went into my home page - created the text 'sitemap' and then double clicked to activate the link icon. Then typed in the http://www.life-guru.com/ror.xml in the window. Was there/is there something very obvious i haven't don !? (I am a man after all Lol !!).

William

Okay ... well you do not have your text linked.

To link text you must:

highlight the word as you would anything when you are copying & pasting

as the word is highlighted go to INSERT - LINK - and then type the link into the area that says URL then say okay - and then republish your page ...

Hi - I have now linked my site map over and over... making sure I spell everything correctly and then publish and google still gives me a 404 not found.... I've - checked that the ror.xml is in my public folder and it is - contains 1 KBB. My link is to that file. I'm totally stuck now........ and starting to smile a lot - think insanity is now setting in !!

Hi,

sorry but I cannot see what I have done wrong with the site map.

I get the 404 error but have must be missing something, probably very simple as ususal!

I do not know if someone can help on www.thetruthaboutreiki.com or if I should get a ticket.

many thanks

Dave

Originally Posted by David Marshall

Hi,

sorry but I cannot see what I have done wrong with the site map.

I get the 404 error but have must be missing something, probably very simple as ususal!

I do not know if someone can help on www.thetruthaboutreiki.com or if I should get a ticket.

many thanks

Dave

Hi David

If Voda support were to answer your question about the ror sitemap it would be from the goodness of their heart, as this is an element you are adding to your website, outside of anything to do with Voda Hosting or the Blue Voda webbuilder.

Now with that being said ... are you both following the instructions given to you when you are creating the sitemap??

Here is the link http://www.rorweb.com/rormap.htm and the instructions are there.

If you follow these instructions you should not have any problem with the sitemap ..

Where and when do you get the 404 error????

William ... I see you still do not have the word sitemap set up as a link ... it needs to be linked.

Highlight the word sitemap on your index page, go to the toolbar, choose insert, choose link, type in the url and republish your page ...

Lady Eye,

For quite some time I have ignored the site map (I actually built my own with hyperlinks and all). I have now deleted that one and created the ROR version.

Everything works out well, instructions very clear; in other words everything is working, BUT I just need to confirm something.

1. How long does it normally take before all my pages are listed?

2. If I open the site map, I only see the ROR headings and stuff and then just the arrows on the left for my pages. Are there suppose to be page titles as well? It looks the same if I open the sitemap on your site as well. I just need to make sure there is nothing wrong with the software here on my PC.

(please note, I'm still working to improve my pictures, so turn a Blind Eye to them for now).

Many thanks.

thanks for your feedback ladyeye.

I will go through it again tomoto, a bit late now and the eyes have had enough of a computer screen.

All the best

Dave

David

Yes, try again tomorrow, be sure your site is ready, there is no sense putting the ror site map on if your site is not ready ... all links need to be working and you should have at least 4 or more pages to make the site map worthy ...

Also check the google threads on this forum, there is much more you can do besides this ...

Tom:

Your site is looking good .. and you look as though you have done things correctly ... if you add more pages, you also redo your sitemap, keep it as current as your site ... it is really just a guide for the search engines to find your pages easier ... they will find you regardless. I believe they do things on a monthly basis, so expect that amount of time at least ...

Thank you Lady Eye,

Some more issues please:

When I open the Site Map from home, it obviously open with the ROR software (it open in a window with a noce index).

I'm now on another computer and if I open the site map, it opens as html. This is not what I want the visitors to see. Must I install ROR on my site as well?

Also, I have much more pages than are currently listed in ROR. I have about 50 pages and ROR only list 4. Your comments/advice on this please.

Thank you in advance.

Originally Posted by Tom vR

Thank you Lady Eye,

Some more issues please:

When I open the Site Map from home, it obviously open with the ROR software (it open in a window with a noce index).

I'm now on another computer and if I open the site map, it opens as html. This is not what I want the visitors to see. Must I install ROR on my site as well?

Also, I have much more pages than are currently listed in ROR. I have about 50 pages and ROR only list 4. Your comments/advice on this please.

Thank you in advance.

The ror sitemap is for search engines, not your visitors. I am not sure why you are seeing a different from computer to computer, this shouldn't be ... doesn't make sense. Is it the very same site and very same link you are clicking? The ror sitemap is all code ... thus the advice of putting a small discreet link on your index page.

Others have chosen to make their site map a page listing all the url's of their site, and then linking to this via site-map. You may consider doing this.

You are using a "drop-down" style menu, which is not read very well by search engines. I don't personally use those style menus, but if you read further under the google threads you will see and read and learn more than you bargained for, lol ...

Thank you Lady Eye,

I have jumped in here to this thread without reading the whole story in that HUGE thread by Brad first. That's going to take ages to read, so let me start right away. If only I have done this first, than.....

I will replace the menu (its a petty, because its a BV menu and it kind of worked for me for the navigation), but I will work on something new. Many thanks once again.

You could also add your major links to the bottom of your pages, just another idea, it helps with this too ... I don't think I'd go changing your drop down menu for this though - that works for you and your visitors ...
google will find you ..

Thank you Lady Eye. That is a great relief not to change my menu bar for now.

Last night I found the solution I was hoping for. That is post nr. 253 by Navaldesign in this thread Your Google Sitemap

[Quoate Navaldesign] If you read this thread, you will see that this is a common problem. It is due to the fact that the ROR sitemapper cannot follow links in menubars. Your best solution is the one i have used and also reccomended: create a text based manual sitemap, as the one you can see in www.navaldesign.info/sitemap.html . then run the site generator for this URL, not your home page URL, and you will be ok. [/quoate]

Thank you Lady Eye and Navaldesign. Much, no really appreciated.