Creating a sitemap BEFORE you build your website is super helpful for many reasons.
In simple terms, a sitemap (or XML sitemap) is a list of different pages that are on your website. XML is “extensible markup language” which is a way to display information on a website.
The main one being that you’ll know what content to write. But it’s more than that. It is actually a technique that improves your SEO strategy.
A quick way to create a sitemap (for WordPress users) is to use an SEO plugin like All-In-One SEO or Yoast. It will automatically create your sitemap and help you generate some SEO meta data too.
What is a sitemap?
In simple terms, a sitemap (or XML sitemap) is a list of different pages that are on your website. XML is “extensible markup language” which is a way to display information on a website.
Many of my clients are intimidated by sitemaps because they feel like they don’t have the tech knowledge or background. Honestly, it’s not that difficult, and I’m going to show you how to do it.
Why do you need a sitemap?
Search engines like Google, Bing!, etc. display the most relevant results for people with whatever they search for. In order to do this effectively they use site crawlers that read and index your website information.
XML sitemaps make it easier for search engines to do this. As a result, this increases your chances of boosting the organic SEO ranking of your website.
Your sitemap tells a search engine:
- the location of a page on your website
- when it’s updated
- the updating frequency
- the importance of the page in relation to other pages on your website
Without a proper sitemap, bots might think your site is a duplicate, and therefore not index it correctly. This will most definitely hurt your SEO ranking!
Do you have a sitemap on your website?