Have you ever heard of sitemap? Do you know what this is and its importance for a website’s SEO strategy?
Those who are trying to rank their pages in search engines, but are still not aware of this feature, need to update themselves to make up for lost time. Those who already have experience in digital marketing and seek to achieve good results in SEO understand the importance of good SEO practices, such as a responsive, fast, lightweight and optimized website. Sitemaps are part of the items that contribute to good ranking and are directly linked to indexing on search engines. If you want to learn what a sitemap is and how it works to improve your results, check out our article content.
What is a sitemap?
The sitemap, which is also known as the site map, is a file or document with a list of all the pages (URLs / Electronic Addresses) of a site. This map helps and guides search robots and users to navigate and use pages on a website. This facilitates the indexing process on search engines like Google and Bing. This feature is important because search engines discover new pages from URLs that are already indexed. Sitemaps provide a complete and faster scan by listing all addresses in just one place, informing their creation, modifications, update rate, among other information. This resource is also relevant for media files with images and videos, informing data such as category, execution time, resolution, file type and even use licenses.
How does the sitemap work?
This resource is a file that serves to guide search robots and users to better navigate the site, making access to pages and relevant content simpler.
Do I need a sitemap?
Usually sites and their pages are linked to search engines without the need for additional resources. However, providing a sitemap improves crawling quality for larger, more complex sites and more specialized files. Check out some cases where the inclusion of a sitemap may be necessary. Very large: on larger sites, crawlers may stop passing new or recently updated pages.
Adding a sitemap may not be necessary in the following cases. Small Sites : Sites with up to 500 pages can be considered. Also, only the most important pages need to be in the search results.
Lots of internal links: Multiple internal links make it easy to index from the homepage of a site.
Formats of a sitemap
Despite being a resource that facilitates navigation for both tracking robots and users, the way the site is interpreted by them is different. That’s why there are some main sitemap formats: HTML, XML, TXT and Atom-RSS.
HTML
The HTML version is aimed at ordinary users who want to understand the structure of a website in more detail. That’s why the format is a convention between developers regarding information and programming. However, it is something that is falling into disuse due to lack of access by users. A valid alternative that many sites use to facilitate navigation by users is a search bar. If a visitor is looking for specific content, searching through the search feature on the site itself is a simple and quick option.
TXT
It’s a simpler format that doesn’t need a programmer or program to create. The most basic way to create a sitemap is to gather the URLs of addresses that you would like search engines to visit in a TXT file. The crawler robots will access these pages, view them and index them on your server.
Atom-RSS
This is a feed format for websites, quite common on blogs that use their newsfeed as a sitemap. Using this format can be a good alternative, however, this should not be the only option on your website. After all, the feed communicates only recent updates, whereas a traditional sitemap format provides all the information for a site.
XML
XML is the most popular format for sitemaps. The option offers the basics: the listing of addresses in search engines. But in addition, it is possible to add information such as page priority and even date of modifications.It is possible to create the file manually, however, there are tools that do this service in a practical and fast way.
Categories of sitemaps
In addition to formats, there are different categories of sitemaps. The purpose of your site can influence how your map is created. Check out the top 3 types beyond the basic option.
1. Videos
Google is a search engine that has an area dedicated only to videos, If you want your content to appear 000000—— or there, the use of a video map is essential for the crawling robots to understand how the content should be indexed . Sitemaps for videos made in XML also offer a great advantage: you can add important information such as description, duration and even a thumbnail to your videos. Online stores that use videos on their product pages can also take advantage of the format, increasing their reach by appearing in video search results.
2. Images
Image maps are recommended for sites that use a high volume of images and photos. This category is very important to ensure that sites index their content well to be displayed in Google image search results.
3. News
News portals that want to appear in the Google News search result need a news map. To do this, you first need to register with the Google News Publisher Center and then keep your sitemap up to date.
How to create a sitemap quickly and easily
After understanding the importance of this resource for an SEO strategy, it’s time to learn how to create your sitemap from scratch. The process is simple and can be done manually or with the help of specialized tools.
1. Analyze the structure of your site and define the URLs
The first step in creating a sitemap is to understand which pages will be analyzed by the crawling robots of search engines. Evaluate options strategically and list pages hierarchically.
two. Set the extension
As we have already explained, there are different types of sitemap. Choose the best option for your website.
3. Create the sitemap
This step can be performed in two ways: manually and with the aid of tools. Check below how to proceed in each of these cases.
Manual creation
When choosing to create your document manually, use the notepad application. Start the file with the tag “” and end with the tag “” without quotation marks.You will also need to define a default protocol and insert the tag “” as a parent tag with another “” for each URL you add. Depending on the category of your sitemap, other specifications may also be required. If you have no experience or have doubts, opt for the help of a tool.
Creation with tools
Specialized tools allow the creation of maps in just a few clicks, It is possible to use independent tools like GsiteCrawler and XML-Sitemaps. In addition, there are exclusive tools for WordPress, which facilitate the creation of maps on sites that run from the popular CMS. For this, use specialized plugins or more robust tools like Yoast SEO.
What to do after creating the sitemap?
The process after creating your sitemap is simple. You will need to upload the file to your server through cPanel on your hosting service or via FTP server. You just need to upload the file in the same folder where the URLs listed are. In addition, you must access Google Search Console, on the side tab, and send your sitemap there, speeding up the checking by the crawling robots.
Good practice tips on sitemap
Check out some good practices below that can help manage your sitemap.
1. Create an index
If it is necessary to create more than one sitemap, it is not necessary to communicate the existence of each one of them to the robots and search engines. Instead, create a single file that is intended to be an index and point where other sitemaps are located.
2. Split your sitemap
Dividing the maps into categories can help you understand which areas of your site are having indexing problems. So create multiple files and use the index to organize them.
3. Keep your sitemaps lightweight
Tracking tools are not able to work with very heavy loads or with many inserted links. Therefore, be aware of the maximum restriction of 10 mb and 50 thousand URLs per file.
4. Use canonical URLs
Finally, only work with canonical URLs in your sitemaps. This means that if your site has versions with “www” and without this prefix in their electronic addresses, work only with the final version where visitors will be directed.
10 best platforms to create your website for free
1. Wix
Wix is one of the leading website creation platforms in Brazil and worldwide. That’s for a reason: the option gives you the opportunity to create free websites that drive sales and SEO results. Also, you don’t need to have experience or knowledge in the areas of programming or design. It is possible to create pages using ready-made templates for different segments, such as health, business, design, health, among many other options. Through the steps and guides, your website will be ready, customized, optimized for mobile devices and to receive your visitors. Wix has a free trial period and even offers a guaranteed refund for anyone who is not satisfied with the results of the tool.
two. hostgator
known by the s In its hosting services, Hostgator also offers a great website builder. The tool allows you to create professional and responsive pages. One of the main advantages of using the alternative is that you already have a good option to host your website. Websites created there can have a custom domain, in addition to having an SSL certificate, email accounts and professional hosting.To access the website builder and the free domain, you must subscribe to one of the P, M or Turbo plans.
3. SITE123
This is one of the best options for website creators in Brazil. Through it you can create your website in a few minutes through the various ready-to-use templates.In addition, these templates are also highly customizable, with simplified and user-friendly customization for inexperienced users.The tool has SEO features, mobile functionality and a custom domain with free hosting.
4. Webnode
This is a great option for anyone looking for a professional tool that allows them to create websites in minutes. With responsive and mobile-optimized templates, built-in SEO and an interface created with users of all skill levels in mind, the platform allows you to easily edit page elements. Through it, it is possible to create both institutional sites and blogs, personal and professional sites and virtual stores.
5. Zyro
Zyro is a good option for those looking to create free websites, but don’t give up good results. The website builder uses the drag and drop system that has all the functionality you need to create great looking pages. The tool also creates virtual stores and offers a free SSL certificate for all sites created on the platform. The option has digital marketing tools, a logo creator and even an artificial intelligence tool to generate texts on your pages, not to mention several other tools.
6. WordPress
The popularity of WordPress is indisputable. According to data provided by the company itself, approximately 36% of websites on the internet were created through the platform. The platform offers a lot of versatility in its plugin store, with both free and paid options that offer virtually any functionality you need for your website. The company has a free option to ensure your website stays online. However, you need to purchase a paid plan to ensure that your site can grow. One of its main advantages is the SEO tools and advanced statistics to ensure that your website is a success.
7. Weblium
Weblium is a free blog and website creation tool with a great alternative to WordPress. Its website builder allows you to create responsive pages, in addition, it offers a hosting service and even SEO tools in paid plans. Among the highlights are unlimited storage from the free plan, diversity of free templates and design assistant based on artificial intelligence.
8. Weebly
With free SSL certificate, SEO-optimized creation, contact forms and lead capture already included in its tools, Weebly is an excellent website builder.Its free plan has up to 500MB of storage and allows your website to be created and online in just a few minutes.
9. Hostinger
Hostinger is a company that offers hosting services, domain registration, but also has a consistent one: the Zyro platform. One of the advantages of making your website through Hostinger is the possibility of hiring high quality domain and hosting services and having all the qualities and tools offered by Zyro.
10. kinghost
Finally, the last item on our list offers a free website builder tool for 60 days. It is enough time to put your website online and test all the resources offered by the company to make a decision about hiring a professional plan. The company also has domain registration services, hosting, SSL certificate and several other ways to boost the results of your website.
Ready to create your sitemap?
We hope that our content has helped you understand what a sitemap is and how to create one for your website. To ensure that your site is a hit from the first moments online, consider installing an online chat. Professional customer service tools let you track which pages visitors are visiting on your site, chat with them in real-time, and even send proactive conversation invitations. Check out the JivoChat tool and learn about several other features.P