When I first launched this site a couple of months ago, I did 2 things which resulted in increased traffic and a better ranking with Google.

First I created a ROR XML file and uploaded it into my server’s root directory. This file is a Resource of a Resource and basically enables all search engines to better understand the content of your site. Click here for more info.

Next, I created a second xml file called sitemap.xml. This is specifically for Google so that you get (in Google’s own words):

• Better crawl coverage and fresher search results to help people find more of your web pages.
• A smarter crawl because you can tell us (Google) when a page was last modified or how frequently a page changes.

Just like you did with the ror file, once you’ve generated your website’s sitemap.xml, upload it into your server’s root directory. Then sign up for Google’s Sitenaps and submit the sitemap URL.

In less than three months, I managed to acquire a PR4 ranking with Google and previously, on another domain, it took me 5 years to get a PR3 ranking…what a difference a few small implementations make!

Of cource, creating a web design utilizing valid XHTML and CSS helps too. But that’s another topic we’ll discuss later.