SEO / SiteMaps Should Tags Be Added ?

Hey Everyone,
Ok for all you SEO Experts... This is for a regular website NOT wordpress..

Should a SiteMap include article.php?tag= url's ? if so please tell me why and if not please tell me why.

Would it be a good idea to just have a "Tag Cloud" page instead of including this in the sitemap ?

Also is there an actual good and I do mean good Php Script to Auto Gen SiteMaps ? Yes I seen some crappy Open Source ones, Yes I could code one but no time to do so. What I mean by a good one is one similar to All-In-One-Seo Plugin that is for WordPress but as stated I would like a Php Script to use on regular sites that will auto update.

Thanks in advance for your time..

James

[Mark Brian]

You can add any kind of URL as long as in has in has content that is unique in your site. If the tag=1 will show similar content with tag=2, it's probably not a good idea. This is no silver bullet advice but a sitemap should contain URLs of unique contents to your site, generally URLs you want indexed.

For sitemap generator, I use Wordpress Google Sitemap plugin for WP. I have tried Create your Google Sitemap Online - XML Sitemaps Generator for non-wordpress sites, but be careful as it will include EVERYTHING it can find.

Originally Posted by Mark Brian

You can add any kind of URL as long as in has in has content that is unique in your site. If the tag=1 will show similar content with tag=2, it's probably not a good idea. This is no silver bullet advice but a sitemap should contain URLs of unique contents to your site, generally URLs you want indexed.

For sitemap generator, I use Wordpress Google Sitemap plugin for WP. I have tried Create your Google Sitemap Online - XML Sitemaps Generator for non-wordpress sites, but be careful as it will include EVERYTHING it can find.

I know they can be included, question is "any reason why they should be included or is a tag cloud better" ..

Thanks for the url, I am aware of the online tools.. What I was wanting is a stand alone php script that I can install... Again I just simply have no time to build one...

James

[crystyignat]

from what I know the tag pages, are not proper pages so they shouldn't be in the sitemap. the tags will have a lot of duplicate content on your pages.
I hadn't added the tag pages in my sitemap ever - even though Google has indexed the pages itself and is delivering a lot of traffic on them

Hope it helps,
Cristian

Originally Posted by crystyignat

from what I know the tag pages, are not proper pages so they shouldn't be in the sitemap. the tags will have a lot of duplicate content on your pages.
I hadn't added the tag pages in my sitemap ever - even though Google has indexed the pages itself and is delivering a lot of traffic on them

Hope it helps,
Cristian

Appreciate the feedback.. Yeah I decided to leave them out ... I know google grabs them up anyways..lol

James