XML Sitemaps - OhMyCrawl

As a technical SEO consultant, one of the key components of any website audit is ensuring that search engines can easily discover and index all of the pages on a website. One effective way to do this is by creating and submitting an XML sitemap. However, many people find the process of creating and submitting an XML sitemap to be confusing. In this article, we’ll provide a comprehensive guide on how to create and submit an XML sitemap to improve your website’s search engine visibility. We’ll cover the steps for generating and submitting a sitemap to Google and Bing, as well as tips for maintaining and updating your sitemap. By following these best practices, you can ensure that your website is fully optimized for search engine visibility.

I. What is XML

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a markup language used to encode data in a machine-readable format. It is similar to HTML (HyperText Markup Language), which is used to format and structure content for the web. However, unlike HTML, which is used to present data visually in a web browser, XML is designed to store and transport data.

XML uses tags to define elements and their relationships to one another, similar to how HTML uses tags to define the structure of a webpage. However, XML tags are not predefined like HTML tags, which means that users can create their own tags to suit their specific needs. This flexibility makes XML a popular choice for storing and exchanging data across different systems and platforms.

XML is commonly used to create and transmit data in the form of documents, such as RSS feeds, office documents, and API responses. It is also often used to create sitemaps, like the XML sitemaps discussed in the article “Creating and Submitting an XML Sitemap to Improve Your Website’s Search Engine Visibility”.

II. How to create an XML sitemap

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of an XML sitemap for improving a website’s search engine visibility, let’s dive into how to create one. There are two main methods for creating an XML sitemap: using a sitemap generator tool or manually creating one using the required XML format. Let’s take a look at each method in more detail.

Determine the pages on your website that you want to include in the sitemap: Before you start creating your sitemap, it’s important to decide which pages on your website you want to include. This typically includes all of the pages that you want search engines to index, as well as any important pages that may not be easily discovered through normal crawling.

Use a sitemap generator tool to create the sitemap: There are many online tools available that can automatically generate an XML sitemap for your website. Simply enter your website’s URL and the tool will crawl your website to discover all of the pages that you want to include. It will then generate the sitemap in the required XML format and provide you with a file that you can download and save to your website’s server.

Alternatively, manually create the sitemap using the required XML format: If you prefer, you can also manually create an XML sitemap using a text editor and the required XML format. This method requires more time and technical knowledge, but it allows you to have complete control over the content and structure of your sitemap. To manually create an XML sitemap, you’ll need to use the following basic structure:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>

<url>

<loc>http://www.example.com/page1.html</loc>

<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>

</url>

<url>

<loc>http://www.example.com/page2.html</loc>

<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>

</url>

</urlset>

The <urlset> element is the root element of the sitemap, and it contains a list of <url> elements, each of which represents a page on your website. The <loc> element specifies the URL of the page, the <lastmod> element specifies the last time the page was modified, the <changefreq> element specifies how often the page is expected to change, and the <priority> element specifies the relative importance of the page. Once you’ve created the sitemap in the required format, you can save it as an XML file and upload it to your website’s server.

III. How to submit the XML sitemap to search engines

Now that you’ve created your XML sitemap, it’s time to submit it to search engines so they can use it to better understand your website’s structure and content. In this section, we’ll show you how to submit your sitemap to Google and Bing, the two most popular search engines.

Google Search Console

Login to your Google account
- Add and verify your website
- Go to the “Sitemaps” section in the “Index” tab
- Submit your sitemap

To submit your sitemap to Google, you’ll need to first login to your Google account and add and verify your website in the Google Search Console. Once your website is verified, you can go to the “Sitemaps” section in the “Index” tab and submit your sitemap. Simply enter the URL of your sitemap and click “Submit”.

Bing Webmaster Tools

To submit your sitemap to Bing, you’ll need to first login to your Bing account and add and verify your website in the Bing Webmaster Tools. Once your website is verified, you can go to the “Sitemaps” section and submit your sitemap. Simply enter the URL of your sitemap and click “Submit”.

It’s important to note that it may take some time for search engines to discover and index all of the pages listed in your sitemap. You can use the search engine’s webmaster tools to track the progress of your sitemap and see which pages have been indexed.

IV. Tips for maintaining and updating your XML sitemap

Now that you’ve created and submitted your XML sitemap, it’s important to regularly maintain and update it to ensure that it accurately reflects the structure and content of your website. Here are a few tips for maintaining and updating your XML sitemap:

Keep your sitemap up to date

As you add new pages to your website or remove old ones, be sure to update your sitemap accordingly. This will ensure that search engines have the most up-to-date information about your website’s structure and content.

Use the “lastmod” tag

The “lastmod” tag in your sitemap tells search engines when a page was last modified. By including this information in your sitemap, you can help search engines determine which pages they should crawl more frequently based on how often they are updated.

Split large sitemaps into multiple smaller ones

If your website has a large number of pages, it may be more efficient to split your sitemap into multiple smaller ones. This will make it easier for search engines to process and index your pages. You can also use the “sitemapindex” element in your sitemap to specify the location of your smaller sitemaps, as shown in the example below:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>

<loc>http://www.example.com/sitemap1.xml</loc>

</sitemap>

<loc>http://www.example.com/sitemap2.xml</loc>

</sitemap>

</sitemapindex>

By following these tips for maintaining and updating your XML sitemap, you can ensure that search engines have the most accurate and up-to-date information about your website, which can help improve its search engine ranking.

V. Conclusion

In this article, we’ve provided a comprehensive guide on how to create and submit an XML sitemap to improve your website’s search engine visibility. We’ve covered the steps for generating and submitting a sitemap to Google and Bing, as well as tips for maintaining and updating your sitemap.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that search engines have a clear and complete understanding of your website’s structure and content, which can help improve its search engine ranking. We encourage you to implement an XML sitemap on your own website and experience the benefits firsthand.

Thank you for reading and we hope you found this guide helpful. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out.