Site Map Creation
For SEO / Internet Marketing Campaigns
The search engines "like" site maps because they provide them with a list of web pages for them to browse and index. There are two types of site maps a content based sitemap and an XML site map.
Content Based Site Maps
There should always be a link to your sitemap in the footer of your website or on the home page. For small websites all of your web pages can be listed. Larger websites should not list all pages, assuming that your web design is correctly structured the search engines should be able to find all your pages by following internal links. Some businesses design their websites only for search engine spiders, however your web visitors might find them useful as well - consider highlighting the primary navigation of your site &/or the major categories of products or information of your site. If you have landing pages that are not part of your navigation flow, provide a linking structure here.
XML Site Maps
XML sitemap are created specifically for search engines. They are NOT useful for your visitors. Keeping them up to date is useful - your SEO team will do that each month as part of your SEO campaign or as needed.