Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Does a KML file have to be indexed by Google?
-
I'm currently using the Yoast Local SEO plugin for WordPress to generate my KML file which is linked to from the GeoSitemap. Check it out http://www.holycitycatering.com/sitemap_index.xml.
A competitor of mine just told me that this isn't correct and that the link to the KML should be a downloadable file that's indexed in Google. This is the opposite of what Yoast is saying... "He's wrong.
And the KML isn't a file, it's being rendered. You wouldn't want it to be indexed anyway, you just want Google to find the information in there.What is the best way to create a KML? Should it be indexed?
-
There isn't really a good way that I know of currently to verify Google has indexed it...
-
Thanks for getting back! I wanted to show you a screenshot of my GWT. The geo_sitemap.xml is crawled with no errors but the locations.kml that it's linking to is never seen. That being said, how it the KML being seen by Google? Is there some way that I can verify?
-
Yeah we might as well ditch that
but yeah it's crawled as a normal XML file as it doesn't give any errors at all in GWT. -
Thanks for chiming in on this, Joost.
I wasn't 100% certain that geo_sitemap.xml was a problem, but the xmlns reference to http://www.google.com/geo/schemas/sitemap/1.0 in line 2 I thought might be throwing Google off - I take it they'll just ignore this and crawl the doc as any other XML file?
Thanks again.
-
I'm sorry to say Mike above is wrong. He's been deceived by the file name and didn't actually look to see what it did I guess. Our geo_sitemap.xml file is a normal XML sitemap, linking to the KML file, it's not actually a geo sitemap, it's just named that way for historic reasons.
See the first question on this thread and Susan Moskwa's answer: https://plus.google.com/+SusanMoskwa/posts/CmZejMkLN4r
-
Hi Anthony,
Sorry for the delay on this. In migrating over to the new outdoorsrank.com platform, Q&A messaging for admins has been a bit spotty.
You are right - geositemap.xml is using the "geo sitemap" protocol that Google no longer supports. This may cause Google not to follow the reference to locations.kml contained therein.
Unfortunately I don't have an alternative recommendation to Yoast's SEO plugin for this. Manually creating your XML may be your best option, or using software like GSiteCrawler to speed up the process, then manually add your KML file.
If this output from Yoast's plugin can't be manually configured, and the KML file is important enough to your goals that you consider it a top priority to have it crawled, it seems a clear choice to me to move away from this plugin and find a better solution. Unfortunately, I haven't dealt with KML files for WordPress in the past. I'd probably recommend site crawling software to speed up the process, then switching to manual to add this in.
Best,
Mike -
Hi Mike,
I think I'm starting to understand where you are going with this. It sounds like I need to index the KML using a link from the footer of the site instead of from the geositemap that Yoast creates since Google won't crawl it or past it.
I read on Google Sitemap page:
"We recommmend that you tell Google about geographically-based URLs by including them in a regular Web Sitemap."
If the KML is referrenced in the sitemap_index.xml, then it's being seen by Google but if the geositemap.xml is between the sitemap_index.xml and the locations.kml, then it is hidden from Google.
All of this is being controlled by the an SEO plugin for WordPress from Yoast. I am wondering if I need to create the KML manually and upload to the sitemap or if should I let Yoast continue to render it. Mike, do you use a specific tool/plugin for KML creation for Wordpress websites?
-
Hi Anthony,
"Indexed in Google" is irrelevant here. Sitemap protocol and the searchable web index have little to do with each other directly (sitemap files are not searchable in the web index).
If you're following the instructions on this page, you're good. Geo sitemap tags are no longer supported by Google.
Note: When I click on the link to http://www.holycitycatering.com/geo_sitemap.xml your server returns a "page not found" error, so I'm not sure where your geo URLs are located...
-Mike
-
If google webmaster tools doesn't return an error on when you test the sitemap then it should be indexing it fine.
-
How do you know know if Google can see the KML? It's not been listed in any of the search results for our sites using this plugin and this competitor is telling my client I'm wrong because you can't see the file in Google Webmasters.
I guess the main question is if Google isn't indexing the KML and Webmaster Tools doesn't index it, how do we know it sees the file?
-
There's one rule in SEO, Yoast is always right
(not only because he's Dutch). But in this case he's right. By mentioning the KML file to Google it knows where it could be found. So it will trigger a visit to the file which get generated on the fly + by doing this it prevents you from being indexed.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google ranking impact: Returning visitor vs New visitor
Hi all, If a website's traffic increase in "New visitors"; will this impact rankings? Do the website overall traffic affect rankings? How much this is related with ranking improvement for main keywords? Just because thousands of visits increased for website, will it count as a strong ranking improvement signal? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Does using parent pages in WordPress help with SEO and/or indexing for SERPs?
I have a law office and we handle four different practice areas. I used to have multiple websites (one for each practice area) with keywords in the actual domain name, but based on the recommendation of SEO "experts" a few years ago, I consolidated all the webpages into one single webpage (based on the rumors at the time that Google was going to be focusing on authorship and branding in the future, rather than keywords in URLs or titles). Needless to say, Google authorship was dropped a year or two later and "branding" never took off. Overall, having one webpage is convenient and generally makes SEO easier, but there's been a huge drawback: When my page comes up in SERPs after searching for "attorney" or "lawyer" combined with a specific practice area, the practice area landing pages don't typically come up in the SERPs, only the front page comes up. It's as if Google recognizes that I have some decent content, and Google knows that I specialize in multiple practice areas, but it directs everyone to the front page only. Prospective clients don't like this and it causes my bounce rate to be high. They like to land on a page focusing on the practice area they searched for. Two questions: (1) Would using parent pages (e.g. http://lawfirm.com/divorce/anytown-usa-attorney-lawyer/ vs. http://lawfirm.com/anytown-usa-divorce-attorney-lawyer/) be better for SEO? The research I've done up to this point appears to indicate "no." It doesn't make much difference as long as the keywords are in the domain name and/or URL. But I'd be interested to hear contrary opinions. (2) Would using parent pages (e.g. http://lawfirm.com/divorce/anytown-usa-attorney-lawyer/ vs. http://lawfirm.com/anytown-usa-divorce-attorney-lawyer/) be better for indexing in Google SERPs? For example, would it make it more likely that someone searching for "anytown usa divorce attorney" would actually end up in the divorce section of the website rather than the front page?
Algorithm Updates | | micromano0 -
Does Google use dateModified or date Published in its SERPs?
I was curious as to the prioritization of dateCreated / datePublished and dateModified in our microdata and how it affects google search results. I have read some entries online that say Google prioritizes dateModified in SERPs, but others that claim they prioritize datePublished or dateCreated. Do you know (or could you point me to some resources) as to whether Google uses dateModified or date Published in its SERPs? Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | Parse.ly0 -
Where can I find a breakdown of google search volume by specific industry/vertical? For example, what % of people searching in google are looking for housing? Cars? Restaurants?
I"m looking for specific breakdowns of search volume in google by: #1 Vertical (Shopping/restaurants/Services etc). For example, how many people are searching in google for information pertaining to restaurants per month? Search volume for all of 2012, 2013, 2014? #2 More granular categories within verticals, people searching for: books,apartment rentals,cellphones) Is there a breakdown of google search somewhere online that gives this type of information? Thank you MOZ community, really appreciate it!
Algorithm Updates | | AppleSauceRules0 -
Stop google indexing CDN pages
Just when I thought I'd seen it all, google hits me with another nasty surprise! I have a CDN to deliver images, js and css to visitors around the world. I have no links to static HTML pages on the site, as far as I can tell, but someone else may have - perhaps a scraper site? Google has decided the static pages they were able to access through the CDN have more value than my real pages, and they seem to be slowly replacing my pages in the index with the static pages. Anyone got an idea on how to stop that? Obviously, I have no access to the static area, because it is in the CDN, so there is no way I know of that I can have a robots file there. It could be that I have to trash the CDN and change it to only allow the image directory, and maybe set up a separate CDN subdomain for content that only contains the JS and CSS? Have you seen this problem and beat it? (Of course the next thing is Roger might look at google results and start crawling them too, LOL) P.S. The reason I am not asking this question in the google forums is that others have asked this question many times and nobody at google has bothered to answer, over the past 5 months, and nobody who did try, gave an answer that was remotely useful. So I'm not really hopeful of anyone here having a solution either, but I expect this is my best bet because you guys are always willing to try.
Algorithm Updates | | loopyal0 -
Rankings changing every couple of MINUTES in Google?
We've been experiencing some unusual behaviour in the Google.co.uk SERPs recently... Basically, the ranking of some of our websites for certain keywords appears to be changing by the minute. For example, doing a search for "our keyword" might show us at #20. Then a few minutes later, doing the same search shows us at #14, and then the same search a few minutes later shows us at #26, and then sometimes we're not ranked at all, etc etc. I know the algorithm changes a lot, but does it really change every couple of minutes? Has anyone else experienced this kind of behaviour in the SERPs? What could be causing it to happen?
Algorithm Updates | | d4online0 -
How do I get the expanded results in a Google search?
I notice for certain site (ex: mint.com) that when I search, the top result has a very detailed view with options to click to different subsections of the site. However for my site, even though we're consistently the top result for our branded terms, the result is still only a single line item. How do I adjust this?
Algorithm Updates | | syount1
