SEO / SiteMaps Should Tags Be Added ?

[TheRichJerksNet]

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.

[TheRichJerksNet]

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

[TheRichJerksNet]

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