XML sitemap
A file listing your important URLs to help search engines discover and crawl them.
In depth
What it really means
An XML sitemap is a machine-readable list of the URLs you want search engines to know about, often with metadata like last-modified dates. It helps crawlers discover pages, especially on large sites or ones with weak internal linking.
It aids discovery but does not guarantee indexing. A clean sitemap of your genuinely important, indexable URLs is the goal.
Best practices
- Include only canonical, indexable URLs.
- Keep it current with accurate last-modified dates.
- Exclude noindex, redirected and duplicate URLs.
- Submit it in Search Console and reference it in robots.txt.
- Split very large sitemaps into indexed sets.
FAQs
What is an XML sitemap?
A file listing your important URLs to help search engines discover and crawl them.
Does a sitemap guarantee indexing?
No. It aids discovery, but search engines still decide what to index.
What should be in my sitemap?
Only canonical, indexable URLs you want found. Exclude noindex, redirected and duplicate pages.
Do small sites need a sitemap?
It helps but matters less when internal linking is strong. It is most valuable on large or poorly linked sites.
How do I submit a sitemap?
Add it in Google Search Console and reference its URL in robots.txt.
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