An XML sitemap is a file on your website that lists the important pages you want search engines like Google to discover and crawl. Think of it as a roadmap for search engines, helping them understand your website structure and find your content more efficiently.
An XML sitemap is especially helpful for large websites, e-commerce stores, and websites with many landing pages or blog posts. It ensures that even deep or newly published pages get discovered, improving your chances of appearing in search results.
To get the best results with your sitemap, make sure it only includes URLs that are live, indexable, and represent the main (canonical) version of the page.
Best practices for XML sitemaps:
- Include only working (live) pages — no 404 or redirected URLs.
- Keep each sitemap under 50,000 URLs or 50 MB in size.
- Use multiple sitemaps and a sitemap index if your site is large.
- Submit your sitemap in Google Search Console for faster discovery.
