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What is sitemap.xml?

SEOMiddle~1 min read
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sitemap.xml is an XML file on a site that contains a structured list of its pages available for indexing.

What a sitemap gives you

This file helps search engines:

  • find pages faster, even if there are few internal links to them;
  • understand the site's structure;
  • take into account updates and new URLs.

What a sitemap contains

A sitemap typically contains:

  • page addresses;
  • the date of the last update (<lastmod>);
  • priority (<priority>);
  • change frequency (<changefreq>, which is barely used today).

Example fragment

xml
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"> <url> <loc>https://site.com/</loc> <lastmod>2025-01-01</lastmod> </url> <url> <loc>https://site.com/blog/</loc> </url> </urlset>

File location

The file is placed at the standard path:

javascript
https://site.com/sitemap.xml

A sitemap does not guarantee indexing, but it significantly increases the chances, especially for large and complex sites.

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