A sitemap is a file that provides a map or a hierarchical representation of pages, contents, and sections of a website. It helps search engines in crawling and indexing the contents of a website in an effective manner. Typically, but not limited to, a sitemap would include the URLs of web pages, the date-time of last modification, the frequency of change, their importance in relationship to other URLs of the site, and any metadata.
A sitemap can help search engines understand the structure of a site and its contents through the use made by the owner of such a website. In this way, website owners will ensure that their website will appear in the SERPs.
Sitemap in technical SEO is important due to a number of reasons, which we will come to later in the chapter. In this post, we talk about the two major types of sitemaps: XML and HTML sitemaps.
XML Sitemap
The XML sitemap is a file that stores a website’s most important pages, videos, and other important files so that search engines like Google can find these in website crawling. Other additional information in a sitemap is a collection of the URLs, including the date it was last modified and the availability of the content in other languages.
Moreover, with regard to the specific content types, videos, photos, and news-related content can be elaborated in the XML sitemap according to the Google Developers Sitemaps section.
- In a sitemap, a video entry can specify the video’s duration, rating, and whether it’s suitable for particular age groups.
- An image entry can be used to indicate where images appear on the page.
- A new entry may include the title of the article and the date of publication.
HTML Sitemap
The primary focus of an HTML sitemap is to facilitate user navigation on your website rather than Google indexing. It is a dedicated page on your site that provides links to various web pages and sometimes includes a brief description of those pages.
Although not the primary purpose of an HTML sitemap, Google suggests establishing a clear and consistent hierarchy to aid with indexation. Think of an HTML sitemap as a directory that users can use to browse your site and locate specific content. However, it is essential to note that an HTML sitemap should not replace essential pages in your site’s navigation.
Differences between XML Sitemaps and HTML Sitemaps
What are the key differences between these two types of sitemaps?
XML Sitemaps
- The intent is for Google and other bots.
- There is no hierarchy.
- Used primarily for indexing.
- You can submit via Google Webmaster Tools.
HTML Sitemaps
- The intent is for users.
- A hierarchy should be used.
- No place to submit in Google Webmaster Tools.
Why you need a Sitemap
Whether or not you require a sitemap depends on various factors. Let’s start by discussing the XML sitemap and identifying some questions you can ask to determine if you need one:
- Is your website significant enough that Google may overlook newly updated content during crawling?
- If your site is new, perhaps it doesn’t have enough external links driving to it to help Google find it. Otherwise, if your site isn’t new but doesn’t have links built to it, the answer to the question should be yes.
- Does your website contain a considerable amount of content-thousands of photos, videos, news articles, etc.
- Does your website need to have better architecture so all of the various pages are well-linked to others? Or perhaps this is so in the case of archived or orphan pages that you want indexed.
If you can answer yes to any of the above questions, then it is advisable to have an XML sitemap. But even if you think you can answer no to all of them, having an XML sitemap will do no harm, just in case your site expands or gets big in any sense.
So now, let’s see if you actually need an HTML sitemap on your site. Again, some say yes, and some say no. Yes, HTML sitemaps are kind of an older concept, but they still have a place in this world. An XML sitemap will give Google all it needs to crawl and index pages, but doesn’t quite give as clear of a hierarchy signal as an HTML sitemap will.
Including an HTML sitemap will help Google understand the structure of your site and the relationships between various pages much better-especially if you have a really large site. It isn’t necessary, however, and won’t solve a poorly organized site. Having an HTML sitemap is not considered crucial to success, but an optimum best practice for the aforementioned reasons.
My Advice
I highly recommend you have both an XML and HTML sitemap, since the advantages of these files offset the disadvantages. Now, you may ask how to make these sitemaps and where they should be located on your site. In that case, let’s dive into some ways to create these files and their optimal placements on the site.
How To Create An XML Sitemap
Initially, we will discuss how to create sitemaps manually, and then we will explore some excellent tools that can help you generate them. To be considered valid, XML sitemaps must meet certain requirements.
Listed below are some specific criteria that XML sitemaps must meet:
- Begin with a <urlset> tag and end with that tag closing </urlset>.
- Include the protocol you are using within the <urlset> tag.
- Each URL entry must have a <url> tag as a parent XML tag.
- Include a <loc> child entry for each <url> parent tag.
- Each sitemap can only contain up to 50,000 URLs and 50MB.
- Must be UTF-encoded.
XML Sitemap Best Practices
Let’s examine some essential guidelines for generating XML sitemaps:
- In other words, only the URLs that you want to be indexed should be included in your sitemap. Really, that means excluding any redirected URLs, any non-canonical URLs, and pages marked as no-index.
- Do not use session IDs.
- If you have two versions of your site-mobile and desktop—make sure to include only the primary version of your site in your sitemap.
- Include media assets, such as videos, photos, and news items.
- Also, hreflang will be able to tell Google that there can be other language versions of your website.
- According to Google’s documentation, <lastmod> is used, but only if it is consistent and verifiable. If you cannot ensure that, it is better not to use it.
- Google ignores the <priority> and <changefreq> tags at this time, according to John Mueller on this Search Off the Record podcast.
- The order in which URLs are listed in the sitemap does not determine the order in which Google crawls them, nor does it guarantee that all URLs will be indexed.
- In this aspect, it is necessary to update your sitemap from time to time-automatically or manually-so that Google will consider it as an authoritative source of content. Because if you do not update it regularly, then Google may also not take it as a reliable source.
If you have found initial requirements overwhelming, then don’t bother because the tools are available that will help you in achieving your goals. We will discuss some of those tools in the later section of this article.
How To Create An HTML Sitemap
When creating an HTML sitemap, keep in mind that its primary goal is to assist website users and provide a clear overview of your site’s hierarchy to Google.
It is important to make sure that this page is indexable by Google, rather than using a noindex tag to prevent it from being crawled.
You should also make sure that your HTML sitemap is well-organized and easy to navigate, rather than simply including a large number of links without any structure or organization, as this will not be helpful to users or search engine bots.
HTML Sitemap Best Practices
Here are some important guidelines to keep in mind while creating HTML sitemaps:
- Ensure that the structure of the HTML sitemap page is aligned with the structure of your website, making it easy to understand the hierarchy.
- The HTML sitemap should be easily accessible to the user, typically found in the footer links of the website.
- Use anchor text that is valuable to the user.
If you’re unsure how to begin, don’t worry! There are numerous tools available to assist you.
Sitemap Generator Tools
Here are a few tools that can help you generate different types of sitemaps:
Screaming Frog is a useful tool for creating sitemaps, particularly if you want to generate one after crawling your URLs. If you have less than 1,000 URLs, you can use Screaming Frog for free, but you will need to purchase a license if you have more.
XML-Sitemaps.com is a web-based application that enables you to input your website URL and generates an XML file for you. This tool is free for up to 500 URLs.
Depending on the content management system (CMS) you are using, there are numerous XML sitemap generator plugins available. However, it’s important to exercise caution, as even the best generator tools have their limitations, so it’s essential to double-check the output.
Here are some popular XML sitemap plugins for WordPress:
HTML Sitemap Generator Tools
Com: This is a free online tool that can create an HTML sitemap by scanning your website URL or uploading a document. However, as we mentioned earlier, if your site has a poor architecture, there might be more effective methods than relying on a generator.
Crawler: If you have a website with a lot of pages and are already using a web crawler such as OnCrawl, DeepCrawl, Screaming Frog, or SiteBulb, you can use the crawl data to create your HTML sitemap.
Here are some popular WordPress plugins that can be used to create HTML sitemaps:
- Simple Sitemap.
- All in One SEO (can help with both XML and HTML sitemaps).
- Companion Sitemap Generator (can also generate both XML and HTML sitemaps).
Wrap up
Sitemaps have been a part of the SEO world for a while now, aiding search engines in discovering and crawling websites. While not every website needs a sitemap, having one can be advantageous, particularly for new and large websites.
I hope this guide will help you determine the appropriate next steps in creating an XML or HTML sitemap for your website, based on your site’s specific requirements. Are you looking for an expert who can manage your Sitemap and website SEO properly? CamRojud’s SEO team can help you out.
