At first glance, XML sitemaps for SEO may seem like an overly complicated tool, but in reality, they are quite useful as they help search engines find your website and index its most important pages.
When your sitemap is optimised, search engines such as Google can index your website more efficiently, increasing the likelihood of it appearing in search results.
In this article, UniK SEO, an SEO agency, will explain in simple terms how you can improve your XML sitemap and use it to get the best results.
What is an XML sitemap and why is it important?
Imagine that your website is a city with many streets and buildings. The XML sitemap is like a map of that city, which helps search engines find all the important buildings and ensure that they are “seen” and indexed.
This file contains a list of all the important pages on your website and tells search engines where those pages are located. This ensures that the most important pages on your website are discovered and indexed, especially those that may be more difficult to find.
How to create an SEO-optimised XML sitemap
Now let’s look at how to create a sitemap that is truly useful for search engines:
- Only include important pages: you don’t need to include pages such as login pages or error pages (those that don’t work). The aim is to ensure that the pages that really matter to your website are found;
- Prioritise the main pages: if you have many pages, highlight the most important ones so that search engines know which ones to focus on;
- Avoid duplicates: do not include repeated pages in the sitemap, as this may confuse search engines and harm the way your site is indexed.
- Update your sitemap regularly: whenever you add or remove pages, update the sitemap. This allows search engines to always know what is on your website.
How to submit your sitemap to Google Search Console
Now that you have your sitemap, the next step is to inform Google about it. Here’s how to do it in a simple way:
- Go to Google Search Console and log in to your domain;
- In the menu on the left, click on “Sitemaps”;
- In the “Add a new sitemap” box, enter the link to your sitemap, something like “www.oseusite.com/sitemap.xml”;
- Click “Submit” and that’s it, Google will start processing the information.
Google will now know everything about all the pages on your website and will visit them more often.
Difference between sitemaps for small and large websites
A simple sitemap may be sufficient for small websites. However, for larger websites with many pages or products, the sitemap needs to be more elaborate.
- Static sitemap: works well for small websites where the pages do not change much;
- Dynamic sitemap: more suitable for large websites, it updates automatically whenever new pages are added or removed, ensuring that the sitemap is always up to date.
Common mistakes when setting up an XML sitemap
Now that you know the basics, here are some common mistakes to avoid:
- Including inappropriate pages: do not include pages that are not important to Google, such as login pages or error pages;
- Forgetting to update the sitemap: if you forget to update the sitemap when adding new pages to your website, Google may not find those pages;
- Not splitting the sitemap when necessary: if your website has many pages (more than 50,000), split the sitemap into several parts to make the process easier;
- Coding errors in the file: if your sitemap is not well done, Google may ignore it, so you should make sure it is well structured.
Final word
The XML sitemap for SEO is a powerful tool that helps search engines find and index the most important pages on your website.
With a properly optimised sitemap, you not only ensure that your content is found and indexed more easily, but you also improve your search engine performance.
If you need help creating and optimising your sitemap, contact us to ensure that your website is found by the people who matter most: your customers.
