A site map is a web page that contains all the links to your website. The question is, do you really need a site map for your site?

Let's take a look at how site map comes about. When the Internet first started, there are only static HTML web pages out there. These are simple text and images content pages. Most sites are so simple that they contain less than 10 pages. The search engines have got no problem indexing all the pages within these small sites.

However, some websites started to grow. Some grow up to having thousands of web pages on the site. That becomes a problem to the search bots. If the linking structure isn't clear enough, the search engines may not be able to find and index all the links. So the search sites started proposing site maps.

Site maps make it easy for the search engines to index the content. A site map contains links to all the web pages on the website. This enables the crawler to find the links without any problems.

But the modern search engine is very different from traditional search bots. They have become more sophisticated and efficient. Although site maps are still encouraged, they are no longer necessary. If you optimize your site properly for the search engines, there is no need for a site map.

Optimization your site for the search bots means that you must, at all times, maintain a clear linking structure. Use simple text links with proper anchor texts and avoid using Javascript links. As long as you follow the above advice, search engines will be able to find and index the web pages. In addition, include your keywords in your title tag and use search friendly URLs.

If you can't remember all the above, just use WordPress to power your website. WordPress is a blogging platform that most bloggers use. But with a few simple tweaks, you can also use it to power a website. In this case, WordPress becomes a CMS for your website. WordPress will optimize your web pages automatically so that you don't have to lift a finger to perform any on-site SEO.

If you wish to configure the SEO options, you can always install a third party WordPress plugin, known as Platinum SEO. You can download and install the plugin from your WordPress admin area. Search for the plugin, and then choose "Install Automatically". There is no need to download and upload any files.

With WordPress, you don't have to worry about site maps. The search engines will find and index all your web pages. If your site is new, be patient. Don't expect all the pages to be indexed overnight. If your site contains hundreds of web pages, it may take a few weeks before all the content can be indexed. When that happens, you will start receiving traffic from the search engines.