Introduction to Sitemaps
Sitemaps are a crucial aspect of website management, particularly for site owners and technical SEOs. They help search engines understand the structure of a website and find all the pages that need to be crawled and indexed. However, many people are confused about the difference between XML and HTML sitemaps, and which one is better to use for SEO.
What is an XML Sitemap?
An XML sitemap is a list of URLs for pages and files on a website that the site owner wants search engines to find and crawl. It provides additional information about the files, such as the length of a video file or the publication date of an article. The primary purpose of an XML sitemap is to help search engines understand which pages on a website should be crawled and indexed.
What is the XML Sitemap Used For?
The XML sitemap is used to help search engines identify pages on a website that may be difficult to find, such as orphaned pages or pages with low internal links. It can also be used to encourage search engines to recrawl pages that have changed recently.
Best Practices for XML Sitemaps
Most search engines understand XML sitemaps that follow the sitemaps.org protocol. This protocol defines the necessary location of the XML sitemap on a site, the schema it needs to use to be understood by search engines, and how to prove ownership of domains in the instance of cross-domain references. There is typically a limit on the size an XML sitemap can be, and still be parsed by search engines. This means that when building an XML sitemap, it’s essential to ensure it is under 50 MB uncompressed and no more than 50,000 URLs.
What is an HTML Sitemap?
An HTML sitemap is a set of links to pages within a website, usually linked to from somewhere on the site, like the footer. It serves as a catch-all for navigation, helping users find pages that they may not be able to find through the main navigation or search.
What is an HTML Sitemap Used For?
The HTML sitemap is used to serve as a mega-navigation for humans and can also help search engines find pages that are not well-linked to on the site. It can be particularly useful for larger sites with a complicated internal linking structure.
Best Practices for HTML Sitemaps
Unlike XML sitemaps, there is no specific format that an HTML sitemap needs to follow. However, it’s essential to make sure the links are followable and the URLs they link to are not disallowed through the robots.txt.
Which Sitemap is Better for SEO?
The answer to this question depends on the website and its needs. For small websites with fewer than 20 pages, neither an XML nor an HTML sitemap may be necessary. However, for larger websites with millions of pages, both sitemaps can be useful.
When to Use the XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap can be helpful for debugging crawling issues and providing a clear list of all the pages that should be crawled and indexed. It can also be useful for large websites that have millions of pages.
When to Use the HTML Sitemap
An HTML sitemap is more useful when a website’s navigation isn’t very intuitive, or the search functionality isn’t comprehensive. It serves as a backstop to ensure users can find deeply buried pages.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both XML and HTML sitemaps have their uses and can be beneficial for website management and SEO. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer to which sitemap is better, understanding the purpose and best practices for each can help site owners and technical SEOs make informed decisions about which sitemap to use and when. Ultimately, it’s essential to consider the specific needs of the website and its users when deciding which sitemap to use.