SEO
Sitemap: what it is, what it is for and how it impacts SEO
June 5, 2024
SEO
If you are investing in SEO but feel that your content is still not being found by Google, the problem may lie in the way your website is read by search robots — and that is where SEO comes in. sitemap.
Although it may seem too technical at first glance, a sitemap is a simple yet strategic resource. It acts as a navigation guide for search engines, indicating which pages should be considered relevant and when they were updated.
In this article, you will understand what a sitemap is, how it works, why it is essential for SEO and what are the best practices for implementing it efficiently.
One sitemap (or “sitemap”) is a file—usually in XML format—that contains a structured list of all relevant URLs on a website.
It tells Google (and other search engines) which pages to crawl and index.
Think of it as the “authoritative guide” to your site for search engines. Instead of relying solely on crawling links, your sitemap makes it easier for search engines to find out everything you consider important.
Now that you've seen what a sitemap is, you need to understand the types that we find. To do this, we've created this topic explaining the function of each standard, format, and type of sitemap.
But before we start talking about each part, it is important to highlight that in 2006, the search engines Google, Microsoft and Yahoo made an agreement that established a single standard for the development of sitemaps.
The purpose of this agreement was to make indexing websites easier regardless of the platform the user chose. To help you understand better, check out the different types below!
In terms of standards, uncompressed files that exceed the 50MB limit or are larger than 50 thousand URLs listed will not be accepted by Google.
The solution to this situation is to split the sitemap into multiple sitemap files. One suggestion to deal with this problem and still maintain organization is to create maps by theme.
With this suggestion, in addition to providing greater ease in identifying problems in the process, indexing will be enriched.
It is possible to develop sitemaps only for e-commerce publications, videos, images or news. Search resources offer exclusive subdivisions for such content and it is also possible to communicate the need to rank the content in some subdivisions.
For such action it is necessary to create one more sitemap for each theme. However, there is a difference for a new file, which are the extensions that act to allow the incorporation of additional data.
The search engine most used by the public, which is Google, accepts sitemaps in a wide variety of formats, for example, XML, RSS, Atom 1.0, TXT and mRSS.
The simplest format is TXT, which is a file that lists all the URLs of a website. The other formats, which are well-known for news feeds, however, only have the capacity to display recent posts.
The most elaborate and complete format is XML, which in addition to its function, informs search engines about additional information about media, which can be of great importance.
You can create sitemaps manually or with the help of tools. The most common ones include:
Once generated, the sitemap should be available at a public URL like:https://seudominio.com/sitemap.xml
And it must be sent via Google Search Console, in the “Sitemaps” tab.
The sitemap is not a direct ranking factor — but is a strategic ally of technical SEO. This is because he:
Additionally, when submitting the sitemap via Google Search Console, you gain valuable insights into:
If configured incorrectly, a sitemap can hurt your SEO instead of helping. Here are some of the most common mistakes:
All these points are reported in tools such as Google Search Console or Semrush, and can directly affect the health of your website.
Since we are talking about SEO, what advantages does a sitemap guarantee for those who work in this area?
The benefits that a sitemap offers for search engine optimization include helping crawlers scan your site. This way, it demonstrates greater authority to the site and also benefits from several other benefits.
Check out the main benefits related to SEO below:
A well-structured sitemap is like a silent guide that shows Google exactly where to find value on your site.
He does not replace good content or internal architecture, but it is an essential technical reinforcement to ensure that all your SEO work is made the most of.
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