What Is an XML Sitemap?

If you own a website, you want to appeal to Google as much as you can, as that’s how you climb the search engine ranks and become more visible to an audience.

One way to do that is by helping search engines crawl your site with ease, as this means they can better understand and index your content. To do that, you must generate a sitemap XML. The question is, how do you create a sitemap?

In this guide, you will learn:

• What XML Means
• What is in XML Sitemaps
• Search Engine Crawl Meaning
• Why XML Sitemaps Are Important
• How to Create a Sitemap

XML: What is it?

Let’s start with a simple definition: what is a sitemap?

An XML sitemap (or sitemap.XML/ .XML file) is a list of URLs of a website, with XML standing for Extensible Markup Language. It’s essentially a roadmap of the site, which helps search engine crawlers understand the website’s structure and discover important pages with ease.

To make XML meaning a little easier, imagine XML files as a map of the website. The website is the location, and the XML sitemap shows exactly where the key destinations are.

It’s important to note that XML files are specifically for search engines and not humans.

What Are Search Engine Crawlers?

You may wonder, what’s the meaning of a crawled site? What are search engine crawlers? These are also known as bots, spiders, or web crawlers and refer to internet bots that read content on the web. They find URLs, websites, and pages and then read the content before analysing it. This information is then gathered, indexed and placed into the search index database.

Why is XML Sitemap Important?

You may wonder why a website site map is necessary if you already have a great website with good internal linking. The truth is that a website sitemap XML is crucial in how it helps crawler search engines.

• Content Discoverability: The biggest reason to make a sitemap XML is to ensure every single piece of content on your website is discoverable by search engine crawlers. You may have some pages that do not have any internal linking, and in this case, an XML sitemap can cover those pages and index them accordingly.
• Faster Crawling: When you add a new page to your website, you want it to rank in search engines as soon as possible. By adding it to your Google sitemap, you ensure any updated or new content is indexed quickly.
• An Accurate Representation of a Website: If you make a site map, you give search engines a better understanding of your site as a whole. It tells search engines the architecture and hierarchy of your website, which leads to more accuracy when your website appears in search engine results pages (in turn, creating a better user experience).
• Insights: If you submit your XML sitemap to Google Search Console (and other webmaster search consoles), you will receive valuable insights about your website. This includes showing you any crawl errors and any website pages that have not been properly indexed.

What Websites Need to Generate Sitemaps the Most?

It’s best for most websites to have a sitemap XML, as it means crawlers identify your content, and you’ll appear in search engine results pages.

However, it’s even more crucial for some websites. For example:

• Websites With Lots of Pages/URLs (for example, with thousands or millions of pages)
• New Websites Without Internal Linking
• Any Site Without a Good Internal Linking Structure
• Websites with Deeply Buried and Hard-to-Find Pages

If your website falls under any of these categories, be aware that an XML sitemap is even more essential!

How to Create an XML Sitemap

You now know what is an XML file and how important they are. The next question you may have is, how to create an XML sitemap?

The first step here is checking if you already have one, as there is a big chance you do. Many website-generating platforms automatically provide an XML sitemap for the website – for example, if you use Shopify, you will already have a Shopify sitemap.

So, how to open XML file? Open XML file by typing a variety of this into your search bar:

Yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

This should bring it up. If it does not, move on to other methods for creating your own valid XML sitemap.

• Use an XML Sitemap Generator: Arguably, the easiest way to create a XML is by using an automatic sitemap builder/generator. There are several XML sitemap generator tools available, many of which allow you to customise once the sitemap has been built. Many of these are free.
• Create an XML Sitemap Manually: Yes – you can manually create an XML sitemap, although it’s usually not recommended as it is time-consuming. Only use this method if you have a very small website and follow a basic XML file format

Checking Your XML Sitemap

Before you submit your sitemap site to Google, it’s best to check XML file first. This is essentially an XML sitemap audit. Consider using a site audit tool that checks your sitemap.XML file thoroughly, looking for things such as non-canonical URLs and formatting errors.

Submitting an XML Sitemap

So, have you created your XML sitemap and checked it? If so, it’s time to submit the sitemap to Google! This part is crucial, as it means becoming more discoverable sooner rather than later.

To do this, follow these steps.

1. Sign Into Google Search Console: You just need to sign into Google Search Console using your website’s details for this step.
2. Head to Indexing: On the left-hand side of the navigation page, you should see the word indexing in grey – click on it.
3. Click on Sitemaps: Underneath indexing, you’ll see several options – choose sitemaps.
4. Add a New Sitemap URL: After clicking on sitemaps, a box will appear titled “add a new sitemap”. Underneath this, type in (or paste) your sitemap URL.
5. Check Its Status: After supplying Google with your sitemap, you will be able to check its status. Here, you’ll see the sitemap URL, type, date submitted, last read, status, discovered pages, and discovered videos. Keep an eye on the status – once it reads “success” in green, that means Google has crawled your sitemap!

Remember, you can edit your sitemap if you need to, and Google will crawl it to update those changes. There is also the option of submitting a brand-new sitemap if you have made significant changes.

That’s it! As you can see, creating an XML sitemap with a generator and submitting it to Google Search Console is actually refreshingly easy – and more than worth it.

Extra Tips for XML Sitemaps

Do you want to make the most out of your XML sitemap? Your goal is to ensure ease of crawlability, and these tips will help you manage that.

• Only Include Canonical URLs: Make sure your sitemap only includes canonical URLs, which basically means only the canonical version of the pages. A non-canonical sitemap example URL may be one that has a noindex tag, or a page that contains duplicate content.
• Only Include URLs You Want to Be Indexed: Remember to only include the pages you genuinely want to be indexed. If you have any low-quality pages you don’t want appearing in search engine results pages, do not include them in your sitemap.
• Keep Your Sitemap Under 50MB: Your aim is a lean, easy-to-read sitemap, which means keeping it under 50MB where you can. If you exceed this amount, you should break your sitemap into smaller ones.
• Consider Specialised Sitemaps: Typical sitemaps are for standard URLs for websites – in some cases, you may be interested in more specialised sitemaps, such as video sitemaps, image sitemaps, and news sitemaps. For example, a website with mainly video content would benefit from using a video sitemap.

With these XML sitemap tips, you can transform your sitemap, turning it into a map that makes your website far more discoverable than before. Search engines will find the site easier to crawl, and as a result, you will show higher in search engine results pages.

XML Sitemaps: In Summary

For many websites, the process of creating and submitting an XML file to Google is not too tricky. It’s a case of using a generator, ticking off the best practices (such as ensuring canonical URLs), and submitting to Google via Google Search Console. However, some websites – particularly large ones – may need to put more effort into refining their sitemap to ensure their web pages stay discoverable on search engine results pages.

At Click Intelligence, we offer a variety of SEO services, including technical SEO, such as generating high-quality XML sitemaps. We have the expertise to ensure your website appeals to Google so your pages become more visible to your target audience. With us, you have the chance to grow larger than ever before.

If you’re interested in our high-quality SEO services, get in touch with our friendly team today to schedule a free consultation!