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Have you ever wondered how search engines like Google and Bing navigate the Internet to find and rank websites?
The indexing of a website is the process by which search engines crawl and store information. This allows them to display the website in search results when users search for relevant keywords and phrases.
But, this task is not always easy for search algorithms to perform, especially when they are faced with new and small sites (less than 500 pages), those that do not have a good internal link or that have a lot of rich media content such as videos. , images or sounds.
To ensure that the content of your website is fully indexed and to maximize the benefits of organic positioning, it is necessary to leverage a sitemap.
In this article, we will explore what sitemaps are, what they are for, and how to implement them on your website.
What are Sitemaps and what are they for?
In the digital realm, sitemaps act as a blueprint for search engine robots, guiding them through the maze of pages that make up a website.
They are files that provide vital information about the structure of your site., helping search engines to understand its content, organization and importance.
Not having a sitemap does not prevent search engines from indexing your website, but it can make it more difficult for them to find all the pages that make up the site. Therefore, it is advisable to have it.
But, sitemaps go beyond mere search engine optimization; they also improve the user experience by making your website more accessible and easy to use.
What are the Types of Sitemaps?
There are basically two types of sitemaps:
HTML
They are a way of showing users a map of the website. HTML sitemaps are another page on your site that is useful for visitors who need to find specific information.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Sitemap</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Sitemap</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="/index.html">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="/about.html">About</a></li>
<li><a href="/contact.html">Contact</a></li>
<li><a href="/blog.html">Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="/products.html">Products</a></li>
<li><a href="/services.html">Services</a></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
XML
They are designed to be read by search engine bots. The XML sitemap is used to list the pages of the website that you want search engines to index.
This is the most used and useful format today, because it provides the greatest amount of information about your URLs oriented to search engine robots. However, it can be complex for some people and difficult to keep up to date on large sites that are constantly changing.
Example
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://www.yoursite.com/tasks-of-the-day.html</loc>
<lastmod>2023-07-29</lastmod>
</url>
</urlset>
Text
A text sitemap is a file that contains a list of the URLs of a website.. It is written in plain text format and offers less information to search engines than the XML type.
Example
https://www.yoursite.com/inicio.html
https://www.yoursite.com/whoweare.html
https://www.yoursite.com/products.html
https://www.yoursite.com/services.html
https://www.yoursite.com/contact.html
Best Practices for Generating a Sitemap
There are basic aspects that you should take into account when creating the sitemap of your website:
Size
Sitemaps cannot exceed 50 MB uncompressed, nor include more than 50,000 URLs, regardless of the format used. If you have a larger file or more URLs, you should split it into multiple sitemaps and create a sitemap index.
Encoding and location of the sitemap file
The file must be encoded in UTF-8 and, although it can be hosted in any directory on the site, it is recommended that the file be published in the root directory so that all files are taken into account.
URL's
Use absolute URLs, as most search engines use URLs exactly as they are displayed. For example, if your site is https://www.yoursite.com/, don't specify a URL like /home.html (relative URL). Use the full absolute URL: https://www.yourdomain.com/home.html.
How to Create an XML Sitemap Manually?
All you have to do to create the sitemap is open a text editor, like your computer's notepad, and start working on your file. To structure the sitemap you must make use of certain mandatory and optional tags:
Required Labels
● <urlset>:It refers to the protocol with which the XML file works.
● <url>:It is the container that indicates that the description of a URL comes from.
● <loc>:Specifies the electronic address of the file to be indexed.
Optional Labels
● <lastmod>:File last modified date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
● <changefreq>:Site modification frequency and should be reflected in values such as always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and never.
● <priority>:It allows knowing the priority that each page has within the site and the value goes from 0.0 to 1.0, with a default of 0.5.
Note that Google ignores the values of both the <priority> and <changefreq> tags. And that it uses the <lastmod> value, only if it is consistent and verifiable (for example, if it is compared to the last modification of the page).
Include in the notepad the text as shown below:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://www.yoursite.com/home.html</loc>
<lastmod>2023-07-29</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>0.9</priority>
</url>
<url>
<loc>https://www.yoursite.com/about-us.html</loc>
<lastmod>2023-07-29</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>0.9</priority>
</url>
</urlset>
You just have to repeat the <url></url> tag block, one below the other, as many times as there are pages on your website. Then save your file with the XML extension.
Finally, it is necessary to validate the file since a badly generated XML will prevent the correct indexing of the site. You can check it for free through the XML Sitemap Validator from xml-sitemaps.com.
If there are no errors, you will see a message with the text no problems found.
How to Implement a Sitemap of Your Web Page?
If you don't use a CMS, you can create and manage your own sitemap manually as in the text above. There are also a number of tools, both free and paid, available to help you create it in seconds.
Some of them are xml-sitemaps.com either seoptimer.com. You only have to take into account the limit of pages of each one, add the electronic address of your site and generate the file.
Once you have created your sitemap, you should save it to the root of your website or follow the recommendations of the platform you use. You can submit your sitemap to search engines manually through Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools.
How to Implement a Sitemap of Your Website in Wordpress with a Plugin
Most CMSs have a built-in feature or plugin that allows them to create and manage sitemaps. In Wordpress you can achieve this goal with Google XML Sitemaps, Rank Math either Yoast SEO, among others.
Access the Wordpress administration panel, select the "Plugins" option and then "Add new". Enter, in the search box, the name of the plugin you are going to work with, for example, “XML Sitemap Generator for Google”.
Click on "Install Now" and then "Activate".
Once you do this, the plugin will take care of creating a sitemap automatically and it will be updated with each modification. You just need to enter the configuration panel through the Plugins option, then Installed Plugins and locate the Plugin Settings option so you can see the location of the file.
This is how the location is displayed.
You can configure other aspects depending on how you need to manage your sitemap. From there, you just have to send the address of your sitemap to Google Search Console, as indicated in the previous point.
Conclusion
Sitemaps are an essential tool for any website.You want to improve your visibility in search engines. By providing a list of the pages on your website, you can help ensure that the pages are indexed and crawled correctly.
This can lead to more web traffic and more leads for your business.
Although it is not essential to have it, it is recommended. There are a number of tools available to help create a sitemap, both free and paid.
Once you have created your sitemap, you need to save it to the root of your website.. This will help search engines find you.
Also, you can submit your sitemap to search engines manually by entering your email address in Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools.