A sitemap is a file that provides specific search engines with the necessary detailed information about the multiple varieties of content that a domain contains. Sitemaps use many different systems, including organization, navigation and tagging systems, to help search engines have more accurate and detailed website compilation and indexing.
Sitemaps are closely related to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as sitemaps help crawlers, which are programs designed to collect data and information from a website’s content, index a page. This means that sitemaps help site owners increase the flow of organic traffic to their site. [two]Since most websites are not built with a sitemap out of the way, having a sitemap will give the owner an edge over their competitors. Technically, most search engine crawlers will eventually find and index your site with ease. But if your site is full of content, it can be more difficult for crawlers to index these types of pages and sites.
Functionality
Since sitemaps are not necessary, especially when it comes to small websites that are easily indexed by crawlers, they have proven beneficial when it comes to the following types of sites:
*Big Websites – These are generally eCommerce websites. One of the best measures will be to split a sitemap index if you have a very large website. A single sitemap can index up to a maximum of 50,000 links. This means that if your site is large enough to have 50,000 entries, you will need two separate sitemaps.
*Websites with only a few external links are websites that do not have a sufficient number of links pointing back to the site that would ensure visibility. Having a sitemap will highlight your site to crawlers for indexing. This gives your site a good chance of being indexed.
*Content-heavy websites – These are websites that generally store and display different content forms ranging from images, videos, documents, and other forms of content. (like DeviantArt, Youtube, Imgur, Reddit)
Types
There are mainly two types of sitemaps: [3]
HTML
The main intention of using HTML is to guide your domain visitors, who are usually buyers. HTML sitemaps are primarily intended to help real human users identify the pages on a site. This presents the content pages and subpages in a bulleted list that makes it easier for users to navigate a site.
XML
It exists solely to ensure that the links and URLs listed on a page are thoroughly discovered, indexed, and compiled. However, XML sitemaps are restricted in performing these tasks:
The fact of sending a sitemap that is XML does not guarantee that your page or domain will be indexed and compiled by a crawler. Sitemaps are seen as recommendations that highlight the page and domain, this means that your chances will increase as you use the sitemaps, but it does not guarantee that they are indexed.
XML sitemaps don’t necessarily add authority to your page or domain. Unlike the HTML links found on your page, the URLs that appear in your XML sitemap do not go through a link authority check. This means that this has a minimal effect when it comes to improving your SEO rankings.
How can I create a sitemap for my website?
There are many different ways to create a sitemap. Many CMS and online store systems provide the tools to make a sitemap. If you don’t have a CMS, then you can always try to use a sitemap generator to create a sitemap for your website. You need to upload the file to the base of your server with an FTP program and send it to Google.
