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What are the two different types of Sitemap?
There are two types of sitemaps:
- HTML Sitemaps.
- XML Sitemaps.
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.
What is the difference between HTML Sitemap and XML sitemap?
Should I have an XML sitemap or an HTML sitemap? The difference is that XML sitemaps are written for search engines and HTML sitemaps are written for humans. An XML sitemap is specifically written for search engine spiders. An HTML sitemap enables lost human users to find a page on your site that they are looking for.
What does an XML sitemap do for a website?
In simple terms, an XML sitemap is a list of your website’s URLs. It acts as a roadmap to tell search engines what content is available and how to reach it. In the example above, a search engine will find all nine pages in a sitemap with one visit to the XML sitemap file.
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.”
When do you make a mistake in an XML sitemap?
One of the most common mistakes I see clients make is to lack consistency in the messaging to Google about a given page. 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.
Can you ask Google to index an XML sitemap?
Pointing Google at a page and asking them to index it doesn’t really factor into it. Having said that, it is important to note that by submitting an XML sitemap to Google Search Console, you’re giving Google a clue that you consider the pages in the XML sitemap to be good-quality search landing pages, worthy of indexation.