What is Sitemap?
Definition
A sitemap is a file listing important website pages with metadata, helping search engines discover and understand site structure for efficient crawling.
Why sitemap matters
Sitemaps matter because they ensure search engines can find all your important pages. While search engines follow links to discover content, sitemaps provide a direct roadmap to pages that might be hard to reach through navigation.
Sitemaps help prioritize crawling by communicating which pages are important and when they were updated. This is especially valuable for large sites, new sites, or sites with complex architectures.
Submitting sitemaps through Search Console creates a direct communication channel with Google about your site structure and content, providing data about index coverage and any crawling issues.
Key concepts and types
- •XML sitemap
Machine-readable format listing URLs and metadata for search engines. - •HTML sitemap
Human-readable page listing all site pages for user navigation. - •Sitemap index
A sitemap that links to multiple sitemaps for large sites. - •Lastmod tag
Metadata indicating when a page was last updated. - •Priority and changefreq
Optional tags suggesting page importance and update frequency.
Common misconceptions
- ✕Sitemaps guarantee indexing
- ✕You don't need a sitemap for small sites
- ✕Sitemaps improve rankings directly
- ✕All pages should be in your sitemap
- ✕Sitemap submission is a one-time task
Related terms
FAQs
How do you create a sitemap?
Most CMS platforms generate sitemaps automatically. For custom sites, use sitemap generator tools or create XML files manually following the sitemap protocol. Keep sitemaps under 50,000 URLs and 50MB.
Which pages should be in your sitemap?
Include all indexable pages you want search engines to find. Exclude pages with noindex tags, duplicate content, low-value pages, and anything you don't want indexed.
How often should you update your sitemap?
Sitemaps should update automatically when content changes. If managing manually, update after publishing new content or making significant changes. Modern CMS platforms handle this automatically.