A well-structured XML sitemap is an important tool for improving indexation and search visibility. Sitemaps serve as a guide for search engine bots to efficiently crawl and discover all the pages on your site. Creating an optimized sitemap can boost your SEO rankings.
Include Every Page on Your Website
Your sitemap should contain links pointing to every single page on your website, particularly newer content that you want to be indexed quickly. Use a crawler tool like DeepCrawl or ScreamingFrog to audit your site and identify any pages that may be missing from your sitemap. Double-check sections like blogs, individual product pages, location pages, and contact pages to ensure all are included.
A few tips for including all pages:
- Audit your site to catch hidden or orphaned pages a bot might miss
- Don’t block any pages from indexing with noindex tags
- Exclude pages blocked via robots.txt file
- Regenerate your sitemap regularly as new pages are added
Organize Pages Hierarchically Based on Site Structure
When structuring your XML sitemap, organize related sections of your website together in parent-child hierarchies. For example, list all blog posts under the main blog page. Nest individual location pages under the main locations overview page.
This helps search bots more easily crawl related content on your site. Proper hierarchy in your sitemap mirroring your site’s architecture improves crawl efficiency.
Some tips for hierarchical structure:
- Group related sub-pages together under parent pages
- Start with main site sections, then nested sub-pages
- Follow the flow of site navigation and link structures
- Don’t intermix unrelated pages together
Frequently Update Your Sitemap as Content Changes
Don’t just create your sitemap once and leave it stagnant. Set calendar reminders to regenerate your sitemap frequently as new content gets added to your website. Aim to refresh your sitemap at least once per month, or even more frequently for sites that publish a lot of content.
Tips for keeping your sitemap updated:
- Set monthly or weekly reminders to refresh your sitemap
- Regenerate the sitemap after publishing any significant new content
- Use a sitemap generator plugin that automatically pings search engines upon update
- Compare old vs. new sitemaps to check for new pages
Promote Your Sitemap to Search Engines
After creating or updating your XML sitemap, add and submit it within Google Search Console for faster indexing of all included pages. Also, link to your sitemap file prominently in the footer navigation of your website to make it easy for bots to discover.
Tips for sitemap promotion:
- Submit your sitemap in Google Search Console
- Link to your sitemap in site footers and robots.txt file
- Ping search engines like Bing each time you update the sitemap
- Monitor sitemap crawl stats in Search Console to confirm indexing
Optimizing your sitemap helps search engines effectively crawl your site for better rankings.