SEO is usually considered to be the link-building and development of great content. There are many other factors that are usually ignored, but they are important in the ranking of search engine result pages (SERPs).
The sitemap of a website is one of the on-page SEO attributes that SEO experts often overlook, but it helps the search engine to crawl and index your website quickly.
A sitemap, or the most used term XML sitemap, is the map of your website that contains the list of all your website pages that help search engines index your website.
This sitemap includes the information URL of all pages, embedded videos, images, files, and the date on which these pages last updated.
It is also worth noting that the sitemap should contain the necessary information on meta description and the priority of the pages. Any redirects, broken pages, and duplicate website pages should be avoided in the sitemap.
The picture below is the sitemap of our website, and you can see the details of the URL and the last modified date.
Some content management systems (CMS) build the sitemap automatically or by using a plugin; otherwise, you must make it and upload it to your server.
Overall there are two types of sitemaps exist, HTML sitemap and XML sitemap. Both sitemaps are important for crawling and visibility purposes in search engines.
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Why do we need to find a sitemap?
As mentioned before, a sitemap is often ignored, especially by small websites, but it should have been part of the website and easily accessible as well.
Sitemap is not a requirement, but it helps to read the whole site easily and at once. So, huge sites with multiple pages should have a sitemap, whereas small sites can survive without a map.
Following are some of the reasons to have a sitemap for your website.
- Although a sitemap is not a requirement of the search engines, but it should be an integral part of functional websites, as it helps search engines crawl your page.
- The more easily a search engine can get through crawling, the better its indexing and ranking.
- It helps search engines crawl and index your website easily.
- It helps you to know the total number of pages and files you have on your sites, which is beneficial for optimization.
Sitemap Format.
Many sitemap formats can be used; the most famous one is XML. Apart from XML, there are other formats as well, like RSS feed, MRSS, Atom feed, Text, and HTML.
More details about these files and how we can find these files are presented in the next section.
How to Find the Sitemap
There are many ways you can find the sitemap of a website. One can do it manually. You can use tools to find it. The location of the sitemap is also dependent on the content management system (CMS) you are using, like WordPress, Wix and Shopify.
The following are some ways to help you find the sitemap.
Using XML file
The most common and easy way to find the sitemap is to manually check the sitemap by simply typing the following text in your text bar;
https://sample.com/sitemap.xml
If it does not work, you may also want to try;
https://writemaps.com/sitemap_index.xml
The sitemap of our website can be found by typing the following text in the address bar:
https://dlinxoutreach.com/sitemap_index.xml
Using Robots.txt File
Another way to find the sitemap is by locating the Robots.txt files. The Robots.txt file contains the information for the different search engine robots. Apart from other information, this file also contains the sitemap’s location for the robot to get information about the website quickly.
One can also access the Robots.txt file similarly by typing the URL.
Google Search Console
One can also find the sitemap using the Google Search Console, but the only hitch in this is that it requires the website’s credentials. So, only the owner of the website can use this feature.
Log in to the Google search console and look at the menu on the left, where you can find the option of sitemap below coverage and above removals, as shown in the figure below.
Sitemap Test Online Tool
Tools can help you to find the sitemap. For example, seositecheckup.com offers services to find a website’s sitemap. Please access the tool through the following URL.
https://seositecheckup.com/tools/sitemap-test
Enter the URL of the website, click enter, and bingo… you will find the sitemap. Following is the result of the website when we search the sitemap of Moz.
Bing Webmaster Tools
Like the Google search console, Bing also offers similar services in its webmaster tools. You need to be the owner of your site in the Bing webmaster tool as well to access the sitemap. Log in to the Bing webmaster tools and look at the menu on the left, where you can find the option of sitemaps below the site explorer and above the URL submission, as shown in the figure below.
Sitemap in WordPress
WordPress is one of the famous content management service providers. Before version 5.5, back in 2020, the sitemap was created using the plugin. Now, XML file of the WordPress can easily be accessed at the location
https://sample.com/wp-sitemap.xml
Although sitemaps can be accessed through this XML file, but it has the limited functionality, so experts often use plugins to create sitemaps. In that case, the sitemap can be accessed as;
- /sitemap.xml
- /post-sitemap.xml
- /tag-sitemap.xml
- /sitemap_index.xml
- /category-sitemap.xml
- /page-sitemap.xml
Apart from these options, you can also find the sitemap in the robots.txt file in WordPress.
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Sitemap in Shopify
Shopify is another CMS widely used around the globe. Shopify stores the sitemap automatically at /sitemap.xml in its root folder, for example.
https://sample.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap in Joomla
Joomla, like Shopify, also automatically generates a website’s sitemap. Its default location for the XML is;
https://sample.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap in Wix
Wix automatically generates the sitemap for you; one can access it through the URL. The Sitemap of different types of platforms are stored at different locations. For example, for the blog, the location might look like this;
/blog-pages-sitemap.xml
For the stores, the location might look like this.
/store-products-sitemap.xml
And for the profiles of the members, it looks like this.
/member-profile-sitemap.xml
Sitemap in Mangeto
Magento also uses the standard format for the sitemap location. For example;
https://sample.com/sitemap.xml
HTML Sitemap
One can also find the sitemap through the HTML file. The larger platforms mostly use this type of file. This file is mostly created for the users, but it is equally good for the robots to crawl and index. One can access it as;
https://sample.com/sitemap.html
RSS sitemap
RSS feeds are mostly used to notify the readers about the new content. It can also be used for the sitemap, and it can be reached as;
Atom Sitemap
Atom feed can also be used for the sitemap and it can be found at its default location as;
Sitemap.txt
A text file is also used to describe the sitemap of a website. The default location of the sitemap in this case is;
https://sample.com/sitemap.txt
Conclusion
Sitemap is a critical aspect of on-page SEO, as it helps the search engine to crawl and index websites, their pages, and files. Most commonly, the sitemap can be accessed through the XML file and its location in most of the case is, https://sample.com/sitemap.xml.
Many other types of files can also give similar information, such as HTML, RSS feed, atom feed and text files. Besides the different files, CMS also offers unique features to locate the sitemap.
Apart from this, tools like Google’s search console and Bing’s webmaster tool can be used to locate the sitemap, but need to be owner of the website to use these tools, as it requires to log in.
In short, a sitemap is not a requirement but a necessity to ease the job of search engines. So, it should be part of the website for the quick indexing of the websites and its pages. It gives all the necessary information about a website at a single location.
So, built the sitemap and got a rather quick indexing.
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Dlinx Outreach is the Solution for Link Building
Dlinx Outreach is an SEO agency that formulates customized strategies that earn you high ratings and authority. Our agency works for both on and off-page SEO. Our analysis teams also audit your website for better optimization and utilization.
Furthermore, our team is well-versed in the recent trends and SEO tools that could help you earn unbeatable publicity, visibility, traffic, popularity, and long-term business. Feel free to contact us for further information.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Sitemap?
Sitemap is the file that contains the information of all URLs of websites along with the pictures, videos, files, and date of update.
How can one access the sitemap?
Most commonly, a sitemap can be accessed through the XML file by simply typing the following text in your address bar
https://sample.com/sitemap.xml
OR
https://writemaps.com/sitemap_index.xml
What are the different types of files used to access the sitemap?
Sitemap can also be accessed through HTML, RSS feed, Atom feed, and text files as;
- https://sample.com/sitemap.html
- https://sample.com/rss.xml
- https://sample.com/atom.xml
- https://sample.com/sitemap.txt
Can Google Search Console and Bing tools be used to get the sitemap?
Yes, both of these tools can be used for the sitemap. But for that purpose, you need to have the login credentials.
How can we access the site map in WordPress?
More recently, sitemap for WordPress can be accessed from its default location at;
https://sample.com/wp-sitemap.xml
But more functionality can be achieved by creating it using plugins.
How can we access the sitemap in Wix?
Wix stands out by offering different locations for different page types in your platform. For example, the profiles of different persons can be accessed as.
/member-profile-sitemap.xml
What is a Dlinx outreach agency?
Dlinx Outreach is an SEO agency that can work on all trades of SEO to get you to a high ranking.
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