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Site Map .................. I think?
Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 1:42 pm
by phppage
When searching in Google for something like Windows Update or istockphoto you see a site map displayed for these websites in the actual results. Is there any way this can be done. None of my site maps seem to achieve this

Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 2:19 pm
by RobertGonzalez
If you look closely, the number 1 hit on the search result page seems to index other frequently requested pages from the site that you are searching for. It is always the first result. I used the following search criteria and it always came back with the top result with the additional links.
- General Motors
- Oracle
- Microsoft
- Sitepoint
- Red Hat
- Ubuntu
- Windows Update
- istockphoto
Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 3:26 pm
by phppage
Not too sure if goes of ranking, try bbc
Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 3:40 pm
by RobertGonzalez
Yeah, I tried PHP Developers Network as well and found that there was not site map attached to the number 1 result (w00t! go DevNet). But I did see that the only listing that ever had the extra links attached was the number 1.
Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 3:48 pm
by phppage
Yep, definitely need to be number 1 to get the site map displayed but may be it involves paying Google loads of cash as well

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 6:04 am
by malcolmboston
this is something ive been wondering about for months and have actually spoken to a few devnetwok members about, however i am yet to find out why and how some sites get this.
If anyone knows how or why i would be appreciative if they could fill me in.
Cheers, Mal
Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 6:10 am
by Chris Corbyn
I have a feeling it will be something for AdWords account holders. I have also wondered this myself too.
Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 2:43 pm
by phppage
I may be setting up a Adwords account for a site so I'll keep you all posted.
Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:05 am
by JayBird
Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 11:02 am
by RobertGonzalez
It might have something to do with sitemaps and indexing.
Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 1:06 pm
by Chris Corbyn
It certainly appears so

Thanks for the link.
Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 5:13 pm
by phppage
I have a Google sitemap on a website but I don't get this effect even if is ranked number 1 in the results

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:04 pm
by Chris Corbyn
/me brings old thread back to life
Well, apparently it's got nothing to do with that site.xml thing linked to
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q= ... arch&meta=
I don't have such a site map, yet google seems to have sussed it out anyway. I have recently changed my navigation to be a <ul>/<li> list close to the top of the body so maybe that has something to do with it. Interesting.
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:42 pm
by RobertGonzalez
Ok, I think I finally found it...
http://www.google.com/support/webmaster ... topic=8523
It appears that 'SiteLinks' are automatically created by Google based on your site linking context. Not sure why the number one search result gets it and other don't, but at least I found something from them. I got there by going to the
Webmaster Help Center, then to
My Site In The Google Index, then to
How do you compile the list of links shown below some search results?
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:26 pm
by matthijs
Does somebody have a screenshot of what you are talking about? A sitemap in the search results? If I google Microsoft update and visit the first result the only thing I get to see is an empty page with the message:
"Thank you for your interest in obtaining updates from our site.
To use this site, you must be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later.
To upgrade to the latest version of the browser, go to the Internet Explorer Downloads website."
?