What is an XML Sitemap?
An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the important pages of a website to help search engines like Google and Bing discover and index content more efficiently. It is written in XML (Extensible Markup Language) and provides metadata about each page, such as when it was last updated and how important it is relative to other pages.
The XML sitemap acts as a roadmap, guiding search engine crawlers to the content you want indexed.
Why XML Sitemaps Matter
Although search engines can find many pages on their own through crawling, an XML sitemap improves their ability to locate and prioritise key content, especially on large or complex websites.
Benefits of an XML sitemap include:
- Helping new or updated content get discovered faster
- Improving indexation of deep or orphaned pages
- Supporting SEO for large websites or sites with dynamic content
- Enabling better communication with search engines via tools like Google Search Console
Submitting your sitemap can also provide data on indexing status and crawling issues.
Example in Use
A typical XML sitemap might look like this:
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/about-us</loc>
<lastmod>2025-07-01</lastmod>
<changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
</url>
This tells search engines the page’s URL, when it was last modified, and its relative priority.
Most websites use sitemap plugins or CMS features (like WordPress SEO plugins) to generate and update the XML sitemap automatically.
Related Terms
- Crawling
- Indexing
- Robots.txt
- Google Search Console
- Technical SEO