What is a sitemap?
Sitemap means page overview. The sitemap shows the user all the subpages and main pages of a website in a well-structured manner. A distinction is made between HTML sitemaps and XML sitemaps. HTML sitemaps are used for navigation purposes to guide the user better through the website project. XML sitemaps are relevant for crawling.
What significance does the sitemap have for SEO?
If an XML sitemap is used, SEOs can influence the crawling in favor of the website. Users do not notice such measures as they take place in the backend. HTML sitemaps, on the other hand, are visible so that users notice changes. However, it is questionable whether HTML sitemaps are relevant for good search engine rankings. For users, however, such a sitemap makes things easier, provided the project is not too extensive. In the case of an extensive project with numerous subpages, it is also possible that the overview is lost despite the sitemap.
Why are XML sitemaps important?
An XML sitemap can be submitted for indexing if required. The submission informs Googlebot that something has changed on the website and that pages have been added for crawling. However, there is no guarantee that this will happen quickly. However, the XML sitemap should enable faster crawling. In addition, poorly recognizable content is discovered. Orphaned pages are also displayed thanks to the XML sitemap. A well-structured XML sitemap helps to ensure that search engines are generally better able to scan, assign and index a page.
