How to check if a site has an XML ot HTML sitemap
In most cases, you can find out if sites have an XML or HTML sitemap by adding sitemap.xml or sitemap.html to a root domain.
So, that would be example.com/sitemap.xml or example.com/sitemap.html. If a site has Yoast SEO installed, you'll notice that it's redirected to example.com/sitemap_index.xml.
Sitemap_index.xml is the base sitemap that collects all the individual sitemaps on your site on one page
What is a Sitemap
A sitemap is a file that lists all of the pages on a website, providing information about the organization, structure, and hierarchy of the website's content.
Which sitemap is best for SEO
The best type of sitemap for SEO is an XML sitemap. An XML sitemap provides search engines with important information about the pages on your website, including their location, when they were last updated, and their priority level. This helps search engines crawl and index your website more effectively, which can lead to improved search engine rankings and more organic traffic. It's important to keep your XML sitemap up-to-date and submit it to search engines regularly. Many content management systems (CMS) have plugins or built-in features that can generate and update XML sitemaps automatically, so be sure to take advantage of these tools if they are available to you. In addition to an XML sitemap, you may also want to consider creating an HTML sitemap for your website's visitors. An HTML sitemap can help users navigate your website more easily and find the content they are looking for, which can lead to a better user experience and improved engagement on your website.
Getting your sitemap crawled by search engines
Submit your sitemap to search engines: The first step is to submit your sitemap to search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. You can submit your sitemap through the search engine’s webmaster tools or search console. This will notify the search engines of the location of your sitemap and its contents.
Make sure your sitemap is accessible: Ensure that your sitemap is accessible by search engines and users. Check that the sitemap URL is valid and can be accessed by Pootlepress founder Jamie Marsland, has been designed for beginners to the world of SEO. Discover the fundamentals of how search engines.
Include your sitemap in your robots.txt file: Add a reference to your sitemap in the robots.txt file of your website. This will tell search engine crawlers where to find your sitemap and which pages to crawl.
Keep your sitemap up-to-date: Regularly update your sitemap to reflect changes to your website. This will ensure that search engines have the most current information about your website.
How do I create an SEO sitemap
Sitemaps are typically created in XML format and can be submitted to search engines to help them understand the website's structure and content. There are two main types of sitemaps: XML sitemaps and HTML sitemaps. XML sitemaps are created specifically for search engines and provide additional information, such as when the page was last updated and how often it changes. HTML sitemaps are designed for human visitors and provide a clickable list of links to all of the pages on the website. Sitemaps can improve a website's search engine optimization (SEO) by helping search engines crawl and index the website more effectively. They can also provide valuable information to website owners about which pages on their website are the most important, which can help with website planning and development.
