Re: Are Site Maps still a "best practice"?

Good point, Matty.  A site map is a tool, and a way of presenting
information; it's really neither intrinsically good nor bad.  For certain
sites and for certain purposes, it's a perfect way to communicate structure
to the user.  For others, it's (ideally) unnecessary except for the bots.
Like any other element of design, its value depends on the context.

-- Ernest

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 10:32 AM, M S <[email protected]> wrote:

> Er, while I think sitemaps may be necessary for bots to crawl, don't you
> think you've failed the user if they need to rely on a sitemap to get the
> lay of the land and navigate their way through the site?
>
> -Matty
>
> On Mar 4, 2010, at 3:09 PM, Hanhwe Kim wrote:
>
> > Carrie and Asta make excellent points. I remember a running into some
> > sites where it was exceedingly frustrating to navigate for various
> > reasons that I would have abandoned if it were not for the site map.
> > It doesn't happen that often but when you need the site map, it is
> > indeed the last resort.
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 12:02 PM,  <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> I just checked our usage reports and it looks like a mere 0.05% of the
> >> page requests by non-bots are for the site map.  Probably far fewer than
> >> 7% of our visitors, then.
> >>
> >> However, I will keep the site map for two reasons:  One, the 0.05% of
> >> users, and Two, the bots.  There are numerous pages on our other public
> >> site that Googlebot et al. wouldn't be able to find and index, were it
> not
> >> for the site map.  The site map provides the only path in via links.
>  (The
> >> other site's content isn't available to human users without entering a
> >> search term -- which I think is a huge usability failure, but then
> Google
> >> itself has the same issue.)
> >>
> >> Genny Engel
> >>
> >>
> >>>
> >>> I believe site maps should still be used. They should definitely not be
> >>> the
> >>> only way people navigate your site, but there is still a small
> percentage
> >>> of
> >>> people who may go to this when for one reason or another, they cant
> find
> >>> what they are looking for on your site. To me, its like adding a "last
> >>> resort" for customers to stop them from abandoning your site from a
> >>> frustration that no one anticipated.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Carrie
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 9:35 AM, Zoey Kroll <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> I'm wondering if I should start including site maps in my navigation
> >>>> recommendations, as a best practice. I had been under the impression
> >>>> that a well-designed site shouldn't need a site map. A client is now
> >>>> asking whether to include it or not. From a quick search, I couldn't
> >>>> find any usability studies from 2009 or 2010 on the subject. Most
> >>>> sites recommended site maps along the 'can't hurt' motto -- though
> >>>> these do add one more item on the 'to create and maintain' list.
> >>>>
> >>>> Nielson's '08 study indicates that 7% of people use it, and that it's
> >>>> still a useful feature that should be included. http://www.useit.com/
> >>>> alertbox/sitemaps.html
> >>>> Jared Spool believes it is often a "design cop-out" that addresses
> >>>> symptoms, but not the root of the issue. Does anyone have more
> >>>> current research, or thoughts on this?
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks,
> >>>> Zoey
> >>>> _______________________________________________
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