As we mention above, there are different types of sitemaps . Each one performs specific functions, although, in general, they always help facilitate Google indexing and improve search results. Let’s take a look at what they are.
XML Sitemap
When talking about sitemaps, we’re usually referring to XML sitemaps . These are files that use the Extensible Markup Language (XML ) format to list a website’s pages (URLs). They’re specifically design for SEO optimization , meaning they serve as a special database “map” of the site for search engines.
“Search engines” in the plural because
Although they are generally associat with Google, XML sitemaps can be us with other search engines , such as Bing and Yahoo. This allows them to exponentially increase a website’s visibility.
More specifically, this type of sitemap is usually in the form of a list . Each website URL list in the sitemap has specific tags (such as <url>, <lastmod>, or <loc>). These not only allow you to structure the information , but also tell search engines how to use and interpret your content .
XML Sitemap Example
Thus, XML sitemaps serve to ensure that salbert climb 2012 search engines consider all of a site’s pages includ in the listing, even those without internal links. This makes them especially beneficial for the visibility of large websites or those with complex navigation structures.
There’s one last point to keep in mind about XML sitemaps. What is it? They can only accommodate up to 50,000 URLs , and their size must not exce 50 MB in gzip (i.e., compress) format. What should you do when this is a limitation? chile business directory The best thing to do is create multiple sitemaps and organize them in an index.