A Sitemap is a list of pages containing URLs found within a website that is available to users and search engines in order to navigate through a website and aide the user in finding the content they are looking for. The two types of sitemaps that you should be concerned with are XML and HTML.

What are the differences between these two types of sitemaps?

HTML sitemaps are created and available for viewing by website visitors to help them navigate through a website. Usually, they are setup with a linear structure showing the hierarchy of the site from top level pages to lower level ones. They provide the user with a very easy to read outline of content, making their navigation to their desired content easier.

XML sitemaps are a little different from HTML sitemaps, because they are intended for search engines and spiders not website visitors. XML sitemaps can be visible with any web browser, but their main function is to provide the URLs of a website to search engines. They even show data on how often a page has been changed compared to other URLs on the same site. This information is very important for search engines because the more links they are provided with, the more a website will appear in search engine results.

What is a XML Sitemaps?

XML Site maps are documents that assist Google, Bing, and other search engines to understand a website’s content while looking through it for information users are looking for. Sitemaps are protocols that give the webmaster of a website the ability to inform search engines about the links of a website that can be viewed. Sitemaps give the permission to find every webpage to the engine that could otherwise be missed while indexing it.

After successfully creating a sitemap for a website, the sitemap must be submitted to main search engines manually. This article will provide users with information and steps one should take to submit the sitemap to search engine sites. Submitting to Google, Bing, and Yahoo separately is worth it and does not take much time. 

A Sitemap’s purpose is spelling out a website’s main content and to provide search engines with the content they should present to visitors who search keyword phrases.  Back in the early days of websites and search engines, SEO firms made huge profits by submitting websites they supported to thousands of search engines that were in existence. Today’s SEO is much different; we seek to take full advantage of any opportunities to provide our content in all of the appropriate types of media available. Here are some tips for an effective and useful sitemap and how to implement it into your website.

What distinguishes an ok sitemap from a great one?

A great sitemap does the following:

• Show a fast, easy to understand overview of the website.
• Provide pathways for SE algorithms to follow.
• Provide text links to every sub-page of the website site.
• Show visitors where the information they desire is located.
• Improves how your website is indexed by search engines.