What is an XML Sitemap?
An XML Sitemap is a text file of URLs on a website that can be read by search engine bots to help them index and understand a website’s structure. The XML Sitemap provides details about the pages on the site, such as when they were last updated, how often they change, and their importance relative to other pages on the site. In comparison to HTML Sitemaps, which are usually lists or hierarchies of links contained in a web page (typically linked from the homepage), an XML Sitemap can contain multiple types of information about each URL such as how important it is and when it was last modified. This makes them ideal for websites with frequently changing content or large numbers of URLs. Additionally, search engines have come to rely heavily on XML sitemaps as they help provide more detailed insights into a website’s content and therefore can improve its standing in search results.
