A) Google Sitemap Setup Instructions

Before you can setup Google Sitemap to work with your COOLSite, you will first need to signup for a Google Webmaster Tools account and verify your website with Google.

Information about signing up for an account is available from Google here:  http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/

Once you have completed setting up a Google Webmaster Tools account , you will need to log into your Google Webmaster Tools account and perform the following:

1) You will need to add your site to the list of managed sites.  Your COOLSite sitemap includes the "www." prefix with your domain name, so make sure you register the domain with Google with the "www." as well, or you will get an error.

Example: Type in your domain name with the full URL syntax (ie: http://www.mydomain.com) and then click on the "Add Site" button
 
2) Next, click on the "Sitemaps" tab above and then click on the "Add a Sitemap" link

3) Choose "Add General Web Sitemap" from the Add Sitemap drop-down box  

4) You will now notice a blank field (ie: 3. My Sitemap URL is) where you can type after the domain.  In this field, you will need to type in "sitemap.cfm" (without the quotes) and click on the "Add Web Sitemap" button when done
 
5) You should now see a confirmation message (ie: You have added a Sitemap to http://www.mydomain.com/. Reports may take several hours to update. Thank you for your patience!) and you will also notice that under the "Sitemap Status" column, your sitemap is listed as "Pending".  Within a few hours (once Google checks the sitemap), you should see a status update with an indication of how many URL's were submitted.
 
You have now completed the Google Sitemap Setup at this point and Google will re-check the sitemap periodically, and your COOLSite will always show Google the most up-to-date sitemap for your site.
 
NOTE: The Google sitemap is in a special format called XML, which is designed specifically for Google's search engine crawler .  It is not intended to be viewed by anyone other than Google's search engine crawler. Do not link your sitemap on your website in anyway.

B) Site Verification Instructions

Now that you have completed the above, Google will require that you verify you are the website owner.

When you submit a sitemap to Google, Google begins to track statistics and other information about your website. Google will not provide you with this information unless you verify that you are the owner of the site. That's where the verification process comes into place.  Please follow the instructions below to verify your website with Google.

1) Login to your Webmaster Tools account

2) Click on the link for "Manage http://www.mydomain.com"

3) Click on the "Verify your site" link

4) Select "Add a meta tag" from the "Choose verification method..." drop-down box

5) Copy the meta tag that Google then generates (example: <meta name="verify-v1" content="ABCxyz=" />), but DO NOT close out this window

6) Open a new browser window or tab and log into your COOLSite admin area

7) Click on "Meta Tags" from the menu on the left

8) Paste the meta tag / verification code that was generated in step (5) above into the "HTML HEAD TEXT" field

9) Save your changes by clicking on the "Submit" button at the bottom of this page

10) Go back to the window / tab that was left open at step (5) above and click on the "Verify" button

11) You will see a message confirming that your "Verification is pending" and can then logout from your Webmaster Tools account at this point, by clicking on the "Sign out" link in the upper right corner of this page

Once you have entered the verification code as instructed, your Google Webmaster Tools account will be fully active, giving you access to statistics and other reportings from Google based on your sitemap.