Suggest an editImprove this articleRefine the answer for “What is a "sitemap" and how does it relate to navigation?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.Approval requiredContentWhat you’re changing🇺🇸EN🇺🇦UAPreviewTitle (EN)Short answer (EN)**A sitemap** is a structure that shows how a site's pages are organized and how they connect to each other. It helps both users and search engines understand the navigation logic and find the pages they need faster. **Key point:** an HTML sitemap is backup navigation for people, while an XML sitemap is a navigator for search engines that helps them index the site.Shown above the full answer for quick recall.Answer (EN)Image**A sitemap** is a structure that shows **how a site's pages are organized** and how they connect to each other. It helps both **users** and **search engines** understand the navigation logic and find the pages they need faster. --- ### Types of sitemap 1. **Visual sitemap (HTML sitemap)** This is a page for **people**, displaying all the site's main sections and subsections as a list of links. It helps visitors quickly find the section they need if the navigation menu is too large or complex. **Example:** ```html <h1>Sitemap</h1> <ul> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/about.html">About us</a></li> <li><a href="/products.html">Products</a></li> <li><a href="/contacts.html">Contacts</a></li> </ul> ``` 2. **XML sitemap (sitemap.xml)** This is a file for **search engines** (Google, Bing and others) that lists all the site's pages with their addresses (URLs). It helps crawlers index the site correctly and completely. **Example:** ```xml <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"> <url> <loc>https://example.com/</loc> <lastmod>2025-10-18</lastmod> <priority>1.0</priority> </url> <url> <loc>https://example.com/about.html</loc> <lastmod>2025-10-10</lastmod> <priority>0.8</priority> </url> </urlset> ``` --- ### How a sitemap relates to navigation - An HTML sitemap is **backup navigation**: it helps the user find their way if the menu is confusing. - An XML sitemap is **a navigator for search engines**: it helps them find and index pages. - Both kinds of sitemap make the resource's structure **transparent and connected**, and moving between pages **logical and fast**. --- ### Conclusion: **A sitemap** is a map that describes a site's architecture. It relates to navigation in that it: - helps users find the sections they need (the HTML version), - helps search engines understand the structure and index the site faster (the XML version).For the reviewerNote to the moderator (optional)Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.