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Friday, August 16, 2013

KML Files

Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML standard used to represent geographic data in 2D and 3D Maps. The format was conceived by Google for use in its Google Earth software. It will accept various parameters from Name, Address and Phone number to GPS Coordinates.
According to Google Developers, “a KML is a file format used to display geographic data in an Earth browser such as Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Maps for mobile. KML uses a tag-based structure with nested elements and attributes and is based on the XML standard.” Once consumers can consistently find your business on these resources, it can help improve your traffic volume significantly.This is an option  for your local SEO campaign. An easy way to transfer your business’s info to Google’s server is through a KML Generator.

We submit two files - a GeoSitemap which tells Google where to find the KML File on your server , which has got the GPS coordinated which will tell Google where exactly your physical address is. Here is a pictorial representation of that same information



Create a KML File for  Local Business

The steps to create KML file are

1.  Go to Geo sitemap generator.com and click on the start button.
2.  Select Manual input  and Fill in all the required fields and click on Add Location
3.  If you have multiple branches for your business, add all of them by clicking on Add Location
4.  Once you add all the branches click on Step 2
5.  Now add the url of your website ( add the www or non www version depending on your setup ) . If    your site has multiple subsites and you want each of  them   to have its own KML File you can do that. Just make sure you add the appropriate locations.kml file to those folders. In most cases you can leave it as the default  after adding in your sites url.
6.  Description for your KML file and Author fields are not compulsory but you can add em in there if you want to, then hit the Generate button. I usually go for the download option , but if you have a lot of locations then you might want to get them to email you when its ready. 
7.  Now you will be presented with 2 files the KML File and a Geo sitemap, download both of them.

Hence this is an option to gain major benefits for a local SEO campaign.


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