Contents
Should I use sitemap XML?
An XML sitemap is a file that lists a website’s important pages, making sure Google can find and crawl them all. It also helps search engines understand your website structure. You want Google to crawl every essential page of your website.
Why is sitemap needed?
XML sitemaps help search engines and spiders discover the pages on your website. These sitemaps give search engines a website’s URLs and offer data a complete map of all pages on a site. This helps search engines prioritize pages that they will crawl.
Why do I need an XML sitemap for my website?
A good XML sitemap is a roadmap to all important pages of a website. This roadmap guides Google to all main content on a website. Having an XML sitemap can be beneficial for SEO, as Google can retrieve essential pages of a website very fast, even if the internal linking of a site isn’t flawless.
Are there any misconceptions about XML Sitemaps?
In all my years of SEO consulting, I’ve seen many clients with wild misconceptions about XML sitemaps. They’re a powerful tool, for sure — but like any power tool, a little training and background on how all the bits work goes a long ways. Probably the most common misconception is that the XML sitemap helps get your pages indexed.
What does Google look for in an XML sitemap?
Now, Google looks at the 1,000 pages you say are good content, and sees over 50% are “D” or “F” pages. On average, your site is pretty sucky; Google probably doesn’t want to send users to a site like that. Remember, Google is going to use what you submit in your XML sitemap as a clue to what’s probably important on your site.
Can you block a page in an XML sitemap?
If you block a page in robots.txt and then include it in an XML sitemap, you’re being a tease. “Here, Google… a nice, juicy page you really ought to index,” your sitemap says. But then your robots.txt takes it away. Same thing with meta robots: Don’t include a page in an XML sitemap and then set meta robots “noindex,follow.”