What Is an XML Sitemap?

XML sitemaps are an often-overlooked element of SEO, but this shouldn’t be the case. When a website has a high-quality XML sitemap in place, it effectively provides Google with GPS instructions, telling the search engine where to find the site’s most important pages quickly – no detours involved.  

There’s just one question, though: what is an XML sitemap? We’ve got you covered with all the answers you need. This guide will explain what is sitemap XML, its benefits, and best practices when adding sitemaps to your website.  

What Is Sitemap XML? 

An XML sitemap, in simple terms, is a file that lists a website’s URLs. This list is then used by search engines like a roadmap, giving them an easy way to find available content and how to reach it on the site.  

Here’s a basic sitemap XML example:  

• Homepage 
• Page 2  
• Page 3 

• Page 4  
• Page 5 
• Page 6 

With this sitemap, all Google has to do is visit your XML sitemap file to find all of these pages. If Google attempted to do this by going through your website, however, it’s likely it would have to jump through hoops (well, internal links) to find all of these pages.  

By using a sitemap.xml file, you ensure Google can find and crawl your important pages. Furthermore, it gives search engines a clearer picture of the structure of your website.  

These aspects are vital if your site falls under any of these points:  

• Adds new pages frequently 
• Existing page content is changed regularly 
• Internal linking is weak (orphan pages) 
• Missing a robust external link profile 

• Is content-heavy with deep architecture and thousands of pages 

It’s true: search engines can find your pages without the assistance of a sitemap. Still, when this sitemap is used, it outright tells them to crawl and index your URLs.  

What Is a Sitemap XML Example?  

You know what it is, but do you know what it looks like? While the example above gives a general idea about how a sitemap appears to search engines, the reality is a much more code-heavy situation.  

Here’s a simple XML sitemap example:  

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> 

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"> 

<url> 

<loc>https://www.staging-uk.clickintelligence.com/guide/seo</loc> 

<lastmod>2022-01-01</lastmod> 

</url> 

</urlset> 

Confusing, right? Fortunately, you won’t typically need to deal with these inner workings because you can utilise an XML sitemap generator to do all the heavy lifting.  

For the following sitemap XML example, we used XML-Sitemaps to generate a sitemap for https://www.staging-uk.clickintelligence.com/seo/. Here’s what it produced:  

You can then view the full XML sitemap, copy the XML code it provides, and add it to your website.  

What Are the Benefits of Using a Sitemap XML File? 

Do websites really need to use sitemaps XML files? The answer is no. Your site has been functioning fine without one so far, which includes having your pages indexed by Google – and it’ll continue to do so if you don’t add a sitemap. Plus, a sitemap XML file isn’t used as a ranking signal. This begs the question: why should you even use a sitemap? 

The biggest reason for creating a sitemap.xml file is indexing. Yes, search engines can find your pages without a sitemap, but including one helps to speed up the process significantly. This is particularly the case if you’re dealing with orphaned pages that are more difficult to locate.  

Furthermore, the inclusion of a sitemap XML assists search engines by allowing them to crawl your pages with greater intelligence. By increasing a page’s priority level by adding it to a sitemap, you are effectively increasing the regularity that the page will be crawled and indexed by Google. This is especially important when it comes to any pages that receive frequent updates, such as a blog post that regularly covers up-to-date developments.  

Sitemap XML Best Practices 

When adding a sitemap.xml file to your website, there are certain steps you should take to optimise performance.  

Here are some important tips to keep in mind:  

Add the Sitemap to robots.txt 

It is highly recommended that you add your sitemap to your robots.txt file. As with other pages that are added to the robots.txt file, you can manage crawling traffic – and ensure the sitemap is crawled as expected.  

To add XML sitemap to robots.txt, you must first find your sitemap URL. Then it’s a case of taking this URL and adding it to your robots.txt file.  

Here’s an example of how to do this:  

Sitemap: http://www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml 

User-agent:* 

Disallow: 

You can add this directive anywhere within the robots.txt file.  

Prioritise Webpages 

Not every page should be added to your sitemaps XML file. The purpose of this file is to incorporate the most important URLs. Due to this, you should prioritise your web pages and only add dynamic pages and those that receive the most attention from search results.  

Correctly Categorise Content  

The purpose of XML sitemaps is to help Google by telling it how your site’s content is structured. Because of this, it’s important you know how to correctly categorise the content within your sitemap.xml file.  

When your content is placed under the correct categories and subcategories, it makes everything clear for search engines.  

Utilise an XML Sitemap Generator 

As mentioned above in the example section, an XML sitemap generator is an excellent tool to use for this process. Rather than trying to do a sitemap manually – which can lead to various technical issues due to human error – these tools can make easy work of producing sitemaps XML files.  

There are various XML sitemaps generating tools available. Some of these are even built into website-building platforms.  

Submit to Google 

Once your sitemap XML file is created, the next priority is to submit this to Google, which is done through the Google Search Console. Via the dashboard, find the “Sitemaps” section. Then, you can add the sitemap URL when prompted and click the “Submit” button.  

That’s it. Your sitemap has been successfully submitted to Google! 

Need Help? 

Naturally, website and content optimisation aren’t easy – especially from an SEO perspective. If you’re a beginner in the search engine game or you don’t have time to learn or do it by yourself, why not leave the hefty task to professionals like us? With decades of experience in all things SEO and digital marketing, our knowledgeable gurus here at Click Intelligence can do the hard work for you, ensuring your search engine optimisation strategy is on point and getting the results you need.  

Simply get in touch – our specialists are a mere email or phone call away!