sitemap

A sitemap is a file or page that lists the pages of a website to help users and search engines discover and navigate its content. It communicates the site’s structure and provides links to pages that might otherwise be difficult to reach, aiding overall discoverability and navigation.

The XML sitemap is the primary machine-readable format. It follows the Sitemap Protocol (sitemaps.org) and is usually named sitemap.xml. Each entry includes loc (the URL), lastmod (the date of last modification), changefreq (estimated update frequency), and priority (relative importance). A single XML sitemap can include up to 50,000 URLs and must be no larger than 50 MB uncompressed; larger sites use a sitemap index that lists multiple sitemap files.

HTML sitemaps are human-facing pages that present a structured list of site sections and pages, aiding navigation and discovery, especially on large or complex sites.

Sitemaps are generated automatically by content management systems, crawlers, or dedicated tools and should be kept up to date as content changes. Submitting the sitemap to search engines and ensuring it is accessible via robots.txt can improve crawl coverage and indexing efficiency. It is important to avoid including redirects, non-canonical pages, or pages blocked by robots.txt in XML sitemaps.

Sitemaps help discovery but do not guarantee indexing or ranking. Use accurate lastmod values, avoid stuffing URLs with keywords, and respect URL limits and localization needs with appropriate sitemap strategies. For multilingual or regional sites, consider separate sitemaps or additional metadata to reflect language and country variations.