What Is an XML Sitemap?

Kristian Ole Rørbye

By: Kristian Ole Rørbye

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An XML Sitemap is a file used by websites to provide search engines with a roadmap of all the important pages on the site. It serves as a communication tool between website owners and search engine crawlers, helping search engines discover and index the content more efficiently. The term “XML” refers to Extensible Markup Language, a format commonly used to structure data, and “Sitemap” refers to a list of URLs that represent the content available on a website.

The purpose of an XML Sitemap is to ensure that search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo can find and crawl all the important pages on a website, even those that may not be easily discoverable through the site’s internal linking structure. This can be especially useful for large websites, new websites with few backlinks, or sites with content that is deeply buried in the navigation.

Structure of an XML Sitemap

An XML Sitemap follows a specific format and structure, as outlined in the Sitemap protocol. It is composed of a series of URL entries that include metadata about each page, such as:

  1. URL: The full address of the page.
  2. Last Modified (lastmod): The date when the page was last updated. This helps search engines determine whether they need to re-crawl the page.
  3. Change Frequency (changefreq): A suggestion to the search engines on how often the content on a page is likely to change (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly).
  4. Priority: A relative value that indicates the importance of a particular page compared to other pages on the same site. The scale ranges from 0.0 to 1.0, with 1.0 being the most important.

Here is a simple example of what an XML Sitemap might look like:

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
   <url>
      <loc>https://www.example.com/</loc>
      <lastmod>2024-09-01</lastmod>
      <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
      <priority>1.0</priority>
   </url>
   <url>
      <loc>https://www.example.com/page1</loc>
      <lastmod>2024-09-01</lastmod>
      <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
      <priority>0.8</priority>
   </url>
</urlset>

Why XML Sitemaps Are Important

  1. Search Engine Crawling: Search engines use bots, known as crawlers, to navigate through the web and discover new or updated content. An XML Sitemap acts as a guide for these crawlers, ensuring they can access all parts of the website. This is especially helpful for:
    • Large Websites: Sites with thousands of pages can benefit from a sitemap as crawlers may not find all the deep-linked pages during a standard crawl.
    • New Websites: A newly launched website often lacks backlinks and doesn’t have enough internal links for search engines to discover all content quickly.
    • Websites with Dynamic Content: Sites with regularly changing content or frequent updates can inform crawlers to revisit certain pages more often.
  2. Indexing: Indexing is the process by which search engines add webpages into their database after crawling. Not all pages that are crawled get indexed, but a well-structured XML Sitemap increases the likelihood of more pages being indexed. It allows you to explicitly tell search engines which URLs to index, improving overall visibility.
  3. Handling Non-HTML Content: XML Sitemaps are not limited to HTML pages. They can also include URLs for different types of content such as images, videos, and PDFs. For instance, video Sitemaps can be used to provide metadata about video content, including the video duration and video description, which can help it rank in video search results.

How to Create and Submit an XML Sitemap

  1. Creating the Sitemap: There are several tools available to help generate an XML Sitemap. Some of the most popular options include:
    • Yoast SEO: This is a popular WordPress plugin that automatically generates an XML Sitemap for your website.
    • Screaming Frog: This desktop tool allows you to crawl your website and export a Sitemap file.
    • Google Search Console: If you’re using Google Search Console, it can also create Sitemaps for you if the platform has access to your website’s data.
    If you prefer to create the Sitemap manually, there are also free XML Sitemap generators available online. Once generated, the file should be named sitemap.xml and placed in the root directory of your website (e.g., https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml).
  2. Submitting to Search Engines: After creating the Sitemap, it’s essential to submit it to search engines. The most straightforward way to do this is through search engine webmaster tools:
    • Google Search Console: Under the “Sitemaps” section, you can enter the URL of your Sitemap and submit it.
    • Bing Webmaster Tools: Bing offers a similar tool for submitting Sitemaps under the “Sitemaps” section.

Submitting your Sitemap allows search engines to prioritize crawling and indexing your site’s content more efficiently.

Best Practices for XML Sitemaps

  1. Limit the Number of URLs: While an XML Sitemap can theoretically contain up to 50,000 URLs, it’s recommended to keep each Sitemap under 50MB in size and limit the number of URLs per file to 10,000. If your website exceeds this, you can create multiple Sitemaps and use a Sitemap index file to link them together.
  2. Keep It Up to Date: Since the lastmod field provides important information about when a page was last updated, it’s essential to ensure that your XML Sitemap is regularly updated. This ensures search engines are aware of your latest content.
  3. Don’t Include Duplicate or Non-Canonical URLs: Make sure that your Sitemap only includes canonical URLs—those that you want to be indexed. Avoid listing duplicate pages or URLs with tracking parameters that could confuse search engines.
  4. Exclude “Noindex” Pages: If there are pages on your website that you’ve marked as “noindex,” meaning you don’t want them to appear in search results, don’t include these in your XML Sitemap. It sends mixed signals to search engines and can affect the crawling and indexing of other pages.
  5. Ensure Accessibility: Your Sitemap file should be accessible to search engine bots. This means that it should not be blocked by your robots.txt file, which is a file used to restrict crawlers from accessing certain pages.

The Role of XML Sitemaps in SEO

While having an XML Sitemap is not a direct ranking factor, it can indirectly influence SEO by ensuring that search engines find and index more of your site’s content. Sites without proper internal linking structures or those with pages buried deep within a navigation system can benefit from this.

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