Rethinking the Sitemap page

The sitemap page is a critical addition for SEO and allowing search engines to crawl your site. Over the last year or so, sitemaps have been evolving. Once the standard stand-alone page that simply linked to every page, designers have found clever ways of integrating a sitemap into the framework as a usable site tool. Learn more about this new trend after the break.

Last week, Nick La of Web Designer Wall had a lot to say about the sitemap page, and how it's been a growing trend to incorporate it as part of the footer to a website.  He even lists out 20 examples, from large corporate sites to smaller, personal efforts.

What's so great about listing out your sitemap in the footer?  It's at-a-glance access for any user of your site who's reached the bottom of the page to jump to their next area of interest without scrolling back to the top.  It can sort pages by catagory and provide quick access to areas your visitors may not otherwise see.  It turns a hidden page of limited use into a critical part of your navigation and site structure, allowing both humans and search spiders to benefit.

Back in 2007, I did this with regularity, or at the very least tried to include links to every main section in the footer.  Now, my philosophy is one that depends highly on the site build and the goals of the client.  JustSix is a good example.  When the full site launches this summer, it will incorporate a full sitemap in the gray footer of the page to accomodate for very specialized navigation in the header.  For sites like Obsession Chocolates or the Bone & Joint Clinic, which have simple, broken out navigation, listing all of the pages in the footer makes less sense.

Overall, I'm glad to see designers moving to this trend.  When done well, it's unobtrusive, and adds to the usability and accessibility of the site while doing double-duty as a sitemap.  And anything that makes the job of browsing a website better for both humans and search engines is a winner in my book!