Site maps, Is there any benefit?

[Banknotes]

I have a relatively simple and small site (60 pages).  All of it is crawlable and there is nothing I want non follow.

So, is there any real benefit to a sitemap since Google can get to all the site anyway?

Do they give the site more credence or something because it's there?

I guess as an aside,  are there any favorite sites that will generate a site map?

Thanks!

[MentorMate]

If all your pages are not being indexed it would help with that. Also, if your pages are not being re-indexed frequently enough it could be beneficial in this sense. Well I don't know of a study regarding this specifically, I imagine it would be a positive signal that you have one as opposed to not.

This site makes great ones, quickly, easily and free: http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

When you add it I'd recommend placing it in this standard location: http://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml

Also, add this location in your robots.txt like so:

sitemap: http://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml

[Aran_Smithson]

If your adding new content to you site regularly it may get discovered quicker if your site map is bang up to date.

PLus if your going to do a job, you may aswell do it properly.

[Banknotes]

Ok,  I'm convinced.... I've added sitemaps to my site.

Thanks for the advice regarding standards and the robots.txt file.

[Aran_Smithson]

Don't forget you can add your sitemap to your google / bing etc webmasters accounts.