I am launching a medical discussion forum for sharing study materials and discussing other topics. The forum will probably grow fast and reach at least a few hundred topics.Should every discussion topic be included in the sitemap?
Should I include forum posts in the sitemap?
xml sitemap;forum
Sitemaps not sitemap when dealing with high volume of content Your first mistake would to assume that you use 'a sitemap', when dealing with sites that contain a lot of content you need to think in terms of 'sitemaps'.Google indexes content without a sitemapNow it's worth mentioning that Google will pretty much index any important URL without the need of a sitemap, many don't even bother with a sitemap and ensure their site has a very friendly way of finding content without having to go down to deep in the URLs to discover the new content but others believe that a sitemap really does help Google.Sites are issued importance ratingsEvery site is issued a importance rating, if you have a low rating then you get less page crawls and indexes per a visit (Google works on resources), so more important sites get longer and more regular visits, so a sitemap doesn't necessary mean indexation - if you have millions of low quality threads being created a sitemap won't necessary mean these URLS get indexed any quicker than Google just discovering them.Sitemap ParadoxIt's worth reading our very own sitemap paradox which Jeff Atword asks the very same question regarding the usage of a sitemap on the Stack Exchange network. Your need to make up your own decision what is best for your requirements. Making a sitemap with multiple sitemaps If you proceed to want to create multiple sitemaps then your need to familiarize yourself with the sitemap protocol.