Are xml sitemaps still in use today?

[jenny05]

There was just a webinar on sitemaps.  Maybe that can help you   Sorry I'm too new to give a good answer!

[johnshearer]

Tobias, I Video sitemaps to get videos findable. You can write your own XML site map here is the Google webmaster page http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=80471

or you can use Brightcove, Sorenson, etc.

Recyclepaint.php

[petrakraft]

Hi Tobias,

yes they are in use and useful, too

Here is the link to the webinar Jenny mentioned http://www.seomoz.org/dp/pro-webinar-jan-2011-value-from-xml-sitemaps

[Netmasons]

In practice I have found that having a video sitemap for a group that use videos to go along with their products really helped get the videos indexed very quickly. I also feel like when we did a huge domain restructure the sitemap helped the search engines (Bing! in particular) index the pages at a much quicker pace.

[Guest]

This post is deleted!

[Tobiask-121573]

Thanks for your feedback. Do the priority and the other optional values of the sitemaps file have any impact?

[Tobiask-121573]

Thanks a lot for the link.

[Tobiask-121573]

Hi Jenny,

Thanks for your input. I forgot about the seminar. I even registered but wasn't online when the webinar started.

Tobias

[Tobiask-121573]

Hi Jason,

This sounds interesting. How do you generate the video sitemaps file - manually or by a tool?

Thanks for your feedback and input,
Tobias

[Netmasons]

I generate them manually, havent really found a tool that does it well, if you find one though be sure to let me know

[petrakraft]

No they don't.

[Tobiask-121573]

Hey Jason,

I wrote a tool myself years ago (phpSitemapNG in 2005) but haven't used, supported or further developed it since than.

What would be your requirements for the perfect sitemaps tool?

Tobias