When you create a site map for your site, use keyword-rich, relevant text links, not images.

Use your standard navigation on this page just as you would any other page. You want this page to blend in with the rest of your site. Put a small paragraph about your company or product at the top and basically leave it at that. Your sitemap page should be as simple as possible. Be sure to save it into the root directory, not within a subfolder or directory, and name it site_map.html or .htm if you use that extension instead. Show how the pages on your site are linked to from each upper-tiered page. And don’t forget to submit your site map page when submitting your site to search engines.

The fact that we are told over and over to make your site content rich, this can contribute to a large site with a large site map.

Google recommends no more than 100 links per page to avoid their crawler thinking your site is a link farm and therefore ignoring it. In order to avoid this, break you sitemap up into 2 or more pages. Avoid the temptation to use images and flashy content on your sitemap. This can make the search engines ignore your site and can anger users who have accessibility software, have their images turned off, or still use dial-up connections.

If your site doesn’t have a site map you should seriously consider adding one. Google.com has a suite of webmaster tools to help you create a google-friendly site. Their Sitemaps tool can help you create an effective sitemap for your site.