XML Sitemaps For Technical SEO

• By Rishabh Singh
• April 25, 2023April 25, 2023
• XML Sitemaps For Technical SEO
• With 0 comments

When it comes to optimizing a website for search engines, one of the most important aspects to consider is technical SEO. Technical SEO involves a set of practices that focus on improving the technical aspects of a website in order to make it easier for search engines to crawl and index it.

One of the most important technical SEO practices is the use of XML sitemaps. In this article, we will discuss what XML sitemaps are, how they work, and why they are important for technical SEO.

What are XML Sitemaps?

XML sitemaps are a file that provides search engines with a list of pages on a website that they should crawl and index. The file is written in XML, which stands for Extensible Markup Language, and it contains information about the pages on a website, including their URLs, when they were last updated, and how important they are.

The purpose of an XML sitemap is to make it easier for search engines to crawl a website by providing them with a map of the website’s structure. This helps search engines to identify all of the pages on a website and understand how they are related to each other.

How to do XML Sitemaps Work?

When a search engine crawls a website, it follows links from one page to another in order to discover new pages. However, not all pages on a website may be linked to other pages, which can make it difficult for search engines to discover them.

This is where XML sitemaps come in. An XML sitemap is a file that contains a list of all of the pages on a website that search engines should crawl and index. Search engines can use this file to discover pages on a website that they might not have found otherwise.

When a search engine crawls a website, it looks for an XML sitemap in the website’s root directory. If it finds one, it will read the file and use it to discover new pages on the website. The search engine will then crawl and index these pages.

Why are XML Sitemaps important for technical SEO?

There are several reasons why XML sitemaps are important for technical SEO:

1. They help search engines discover new pages on a website that they might not have found otherwise.
2. They can help search engines understand the structure of a website and how pages are related to each other.
3. They can help to ensure that all of the pages on a website are crawled and indexed by search engines.
4. They can help to identify and fix crawl errors on a website.
5. They can help to prioritize important pages on a website.
6. They can help to indicate when pages were last updated, which can help search engines to determine how often they should crawl them.
7. They can help to ensure that search engines crawl and index all of the different versions of a website (such as mobile and desktop versions).
8. They can help to improve the overall visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Best practices for creating XML Sitemaps

When creating an XML sitemap, there are several best practices that should be followed:

1. Include all of the pages on a website that you want to be indexed by search engines.
2. Make sure that the URLs in the XML sitemap are valid and accurate.
3. Group similar pages together in the XML sitemap (such as blog posts or product pages).
4. Use the “last modified” tag to indicate when pages were last updated.

One of the most important tags in an XML sitemap is the “last modified” tag. This tag tells search engines when a page on a website was last updated, which can help them to determine how frequently they should crawl it.

By including the “last modified” tag in an XML sitemap, webmasters can provide search engines with valuable information that can improve the crawling and indexing of their website. For example, if a page was updated recently, search engines may decide to crawl it more frequently in order to ensure that their index remains up-to-date.

In addition to improving the crawling and indexing of a website, using the “last modified” tag can also provide valuable information to users. For example, if a blog post was last updated a year ago, users may be less likely to find the information in it relevant or up-to-date. By including the “last modified” tag in an XML sitemap, webmasters can help users to determine whether a particular page is worth their time.

It’s important to note that the “last modified” tag should only be used for pages that have actually been updated. Including a false “last modified” tag can lead to search engines crawling and indexing pages unnecessarily, which can negatively impact the crawling budget of a website.

In addition, it’s important to update the “last modified” tag regularly. If a page has not been updated in several months or years, its “last modified” tag should reflect that. Failing to update the “last modified” tag can lead to search engines crawling and indexing outdated pages, which can negatively impact the relevance and usefulness of a website in search results.

5. Use the “priority” tag to indicate the importance of pages on a website.
6. Make sure that the XML sitemap is located in the website’s root directory and is named “sitemap.xml”.
7. Submit the XML sitemap to search engines using their webmaster tools.
8. Update the XML sitemap regularly to ensure that it remains accurate and up-to-date.
9. Include alternate language versions of pages with hreflang tags.

If a website has multiple language versions of its pages, it’s important to include them in the XML sitemap using hreflang tags. This helps search engines to understand which language version of a page to show in search results based on the user’s language and location.

Hreflang tags indicate the language and geographical targeting of a page. By including hreflang tags in an XML sitemap, webmasters can ensure that search engines show the correct language version of a page to users in different regions.

Additionally, including hreflang tags in an XML sitemap can help to avoid duplicate content issues. Without hreflang tags, search engines may crawl and index multiple language versions of a page, which can lead to duplicate content issues and a lower ranking in search results.

It’s also important to note that while XML sitemaps can be very helpful for technical SEO, they should not be relied on as the sole way of getting search engines to crawl and index a website. It’s still important to have a well-structured website with internal linking that allows search engines to easily navigate and discover new pages.

Conclusion

In conclusion, XML sitemaps are a crucial component of technical SEO. By providing search engines with a map of a website’s structure, XML sitemaps can help to ensure that all pages are crawled and indexed, prioritize important pages, identify crawl errors, and improve the overall visibility of a website in SERPs.

Following best practices for creating XML sitemaps, such as including all relevant pages and regularly updating the file, can further improve their effectiveness. However, it’s important to remember that XML sitemaps should be used in conjunction with other technical SEO practices to fully optimize a website for search engines.