Google Responds To Sitemap SEO Technique That Forces Daily Crawling

Google’s John Mueller was asked astir a method designed to unit Google and different hunt engines to crawl sitemaps each day. The personification asking the mobility said they saw this successful action connected a ample site.

Cache Busting With URL Parameters Is Legit

Websites person agelong utilized a method called cache busting for CSS, JavaScript, and different files that whitethorn change. The intent of cache busting is to forestall a tract visitor’s browser from storing a old transcript of the CSS aliases JavaScript files, while besides relying connected stored cache files. The logic is because sometimes a tract proprietor mightiness make changes to the CSS aliases JavaScript record and alternatively than alteration the record sanction they conscionable append a URL parameter to the extremity of the record sanction truthful that the freshest type is downloaded to tract visitors.

This enables the website to load faster connected a tract visitor’s browser (by not having to load web page resources a 2nd time) while besides serving the freshest style, script, aliases image files.

The measurement to do that is by adding a mobility people and further parameters to the file.

Is Cache Busting A Sitemap Legit?

Apparently immoderate SEOs are appending the URL parameters to their sitemaps successful bid to unit hunt engines to crawl them, alternatively than trust connected the <lastmod> XML element. The <lastmod> constituent communicates the past day that a record was modified. This tells a crawler whether aliases not a record has changed. If the record has not changed this enables the crawler to attraction crawling pages that person changed.

Blusky personnel @seoharbour asked

“Hi John, I’ve been trying to study immoderate much astir sitemap.xmls. Heard astir this point called cachebusting by adding a ?v=unix timestamp to the extremity of a sitemap url successful a sitemapindex. In the Dev blog I could only find a remark connected meticulous <lastmod> values, I conjecture it applies excessively right?”

John Mueller responded:

“Why would you usage cache-busting successful a sitemap file? Perhaps I’m misunderstanding what your extremity is though, consciousness free to elaborate!”

@seoharbour responded:

“Fair question, I’ve observed this behaviour connected a ample rigidly system site. The kid sitemap URLs wrong the scale get a caller ?v=timestamp each day. I conjecture they want to unit a refetch pinch a regular caller URL. Since its the URL changing alternatively than lastmod, im wondering if this causes immoderate harm?”

Don’t Use Cache Busting On Sitemaps

Google’s John Mueller responded that it’s a bad thought to usage a cache busting URL parameter connected a sitemap.

He explained:

“I deliberation that’s a bad thought because you’re signaling that the canonical URL for a portion of contented should beryllium perpetually changing. That’s not bully for hunt engines, it’s not bully for your tracking. Having clean, unchangeable URLs is important. (Cue the TBL page “Cool URIs don’t change”)”

SEO Influencer Hacks Gone Wrong

This benignant of point is what happens erstwhile an SEO influencer who doesn’t really cognize SEO comes up pinch hacky ideas that sound bully connected insubstantial but sound ridiculous to existent SEOs who cognize really markup languages (like XML and HTML) work. The acronym XML stands for, Extensible Markup Language. As a markup connection it has rules that an SEO aliases tract proprietor tin travel successful bid to pass to a crawler aliases immoderate different tract visitor. No hacks necessary.

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