The latest updates on information selling and running an online infoproduct business

I've spent the past few days putting the finishing touches to organising a meeting which I know you'll want to attend. It's being held in London and is designed to help you cash in on the growing market for information. The knowledge you have in your head could make an information product that other people will pay you for. But you need to know how to market those products to succeed. So, I've organised 'Information Marketing 2005' along with my colleague Rod Sloane. We've also invited some top notch guest speakers who'll give you the lowdown on constructing your products and the legal position of selling things online.

Information Marketing is this years not to miss event. It takes place in October and you can find the full details at: http://www.informationmarketing2005.co.uk

Google is enhancing its search offering by indexing special sitemaps. However, these are not the 'normal' sitemaps you might know about. You need to create a special format sitemap to benefit from this Google advance.

The Google sitemap system means that if you provide a special sitemap, your site will get a thorough indexing by the Googlebot robot. However, you need to take several steps if you wish to get your web site fully indexed by Google using their new sitemap system.

The first step you need to take is to tidy up your web site. Get rid of any pages you no longer need. Tidy up the titles you use so they include your keywords. Also, make sure all your links work - especially to third party sites. You want to ensure that your web site is as efficient as possible before you start the sitemap process with Google.

Having got a clean and tidy web site, you then need to create the special sitemap format that Google requires. This is an 'XML' file. Google provides a tool to do this, but you need to understand coding and your web server needs special software to run it. All OK if that's your bag, but for most of us we need something simpler. There are several programs you can buy to do this, ranging in price from $97 to $197. But why pay for such programs, when I've found a free one which works? So, to create your XML sitemap you need to go to: http://www.vigos.com/products/gsitemap/ and download "Gsitemap". This is a straightforward program which will create the necessary sitemaps you need.

Once you have installed the program, simply start it up and click on the 'Web Wizard' button. Enter your web site address (including "http://") into the box and click 'Start'. When the programe has finished indexing your site, choose 'Generate SML sitemap' from the Sitemap menu. Then save your sitemap, choosing the 'Save XML sitemap' option. All you then have to do is upload the file that has been created to your web site.

Having done that you need to let Google know you have an XML sitemap. To do this you need to register with Google. Go to: https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/sitemaps/login and either sign in or create an account. Once you are logged in to the Google Sitemaps page you can choose 'Add a Sitemap'. Simply type in the address of your sitemap, such as "http://www.mydomain.com/sitemap.xml" and click on 'Submit URL'. That's it.

Google may take several hours to index your sitemap and it may be several days before the results of that indexing is available online within Google searches. However, Google is clearly using the sitemap approach to enhance its listings. If you want the best positioning for all your pages within Google, you need to add a sitemap.