Has Google finally embraced RSS with their new XML \rpowered Sitemaps program? Well, sort of, but it seems \rmore like a hug than a strong impassioned embrace!

It does use XML technology which allows for the \rcrawling and updating of your site's web pages. \rYou can even include your entire web site (all urls) \rwith this indexing program. For anyone targeting the search \rengines, especially Google, this program (still in beta) \ris a MUST HAVE.

If you require timely updating of your most popular pages \rGoogle's new Sitemaps may prove indispensable. It's a little\rpremature to assess the importance or impact of Google's \rnew program but anyone wanting to give their site a \rcompetitive edge should be gearing up.

How it works:

There are several ways to set-up a XML Sitemap, perhaps \rthe easiest way is to use the open-source Generator which \ryou can download from Google. This is a Python file that \ryou can upload to your webserver and this generator \rwill create a sitemap from your 'URL lists, webserver \rdirectories, or your access logs'.

It would probably be wise to check with your hosting provider \rto see if they can accommodate this Generator on your webserver. \rIt you have a small site there should be no problem but if your \rsite runs into the 1,000's of URLs or pages -- check to see how much \rbandwidth such a system will take up. It's better to be safe \rthan sorry!

Once done, you have to then submit your newly generated XML Sitemap \rto Google and the search engine will use this XML Sitemap to \rupdate and index your site whenever you make changes on your site. \rYou will need to have a Google account.

You may also submit text files containing URLs from your web site \rto be included in Google Sitemaps but these text files will have \ror will be given low priority for the time being.

To get started on your own Google Sitemaps Account you can click here:\rGoogle's Sitemaps

What's great about it:

Besides seeing Google finally grab the RSS wildcard, it\rgives you better control of how and when the search \rengines update your web site pages. Perhaps, the most \rimportant aspect for Internet Marketers, you can now assign \rthe importance that's given to any of your particular \rpages. As most marketers know, certain pages on your \rweb site are more important than others; these pages \rearn money, build your contact list, or direct your \rsite's visitors in the right direction. In other words, \ryou can now place more emphasis on your web site's \r'bread and butter' pages. A BIG Plus!

With Google Sitemaps you can decide the importance \rplaced on these pages by using the priority XML tag. \rThis rating system is relative, it only relates to \rthe pages on your own site.

Likewise, you can also indicate how frequently your \rpages changes by using the changefreq XML tag. More or \rless instructing Google when your page will be updated \ror changed. This is a win-win situation for everyone; \rGoogle gets the freshest content for its users and \ryou gain more control of the frequency of the updates \rdone with your site or web pages. This may have a direct \rinfluence on the profitability of your web site.

For those who are actively marketing thru the search \rengines and keywords -- Santa may have come a little \rearly this year. Of course, the jury will be out for \rawhile but Google Sitemaps will probably have a \rpositive impact on your bottom line.

What it means for Google:

For those of us who have been following and watching \rthe RSS wildcard for the past couple of years, it takes \raway some of the frustration and a little of the puzzlement \rfrom Google seemingly total disregard of RSS.

RSS is not a fad, it is not a trend and it's not going away. \rInstead, its importance is growing. It is fast becoming 'the' \rway data is moved on the web. One could even speculate that \rin the very near future all web pages will have an RSS \rcomponent, perhaps a hybrid of 'XML/HMTL' or an embedded \rXML code that will work with all browsers, search engines \rand servers.

For Google to ignore the growing importance of RSS, blogging, \rpodcasting, broadcatching, the RSS featured Firefox browser, \rMyYahoo, not to mention all those orange XML logos popping \rup on most of the major sites on the web -- is beyond comprehension. \rWhy Google does not have an RSS search on its main search engine\rpage still seems baffling. Bringing out a homepage and not \rincluding an RSS feature is just foolhardy (They may introduce \rthis feature later).

For those firmly in the RSS corner, Google's continued \rdisregard for RSS became more than a little frustrating \rto observe. It was downright rude! Perhaps Google was waiting \rto incorporate RSS in a program like this new XML Sitemaps? \rCan this mean that Google has finally accepted the importance \rof RSS and they're starting to make amends? More importantly, \rcould there still be a few more RSS goodies in the Google Jar \rleft to be announced?

One can only speculate but when it comes to RSS and Google, \rlets just hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

----------------------------------------------------\rTo add RSS to your Site within minutes - download this\rsimple RSS Report and Guide.

Copyright ? 2005 Titus Hoskins of BWMagic's Free Marketing Tools & Guides

This article may be freely distributed if this resource \rbox stays attached.\r----------------------------------------------------