Search engines won’t index what they can’t find. A good sitemap makes sure they do. Whether you’re running a large eCommerce site or a growing blog, getting your pages discovered is half the SEO battle.

A sitemap essentially acts as a catalogue of every page on your website. But how can you better optimise your sitemap to ensure search engines can rank your site? In this article, we’ll explain what a sitemap is, how it supports sitemap SEO optimisation, and the different types available—including image, video, and news sitemaps. You’ll also learn how to build, structure, and submit XML sitemaps properly, plus how to avoid common mistakes that block indexing. 

Key Points:

What Is a Sitemap?

A sitemap is a simple file that shows search engines how your website is structured. Think of it as a list of the pages you want search engines like Google or Bing to crawl and understand. Without one, important content can be missed, especially if your internal links are thin or scattered. A sitemap helps direct traffic to the pages that matter most.

There are different types of sitemaps, and each serves a specific purpose:

• XML Sitemap: The most common type. It lists URLs in a structured format so that search engines can find and crawl them efficiently.
• Video Sitemap: Highlights pages with video content to help search engines understand the context and location of your videos.
• News Sitemap: Used by websites approved for Google News to get their latest articles indexed quickly.
• Image Sitemap: Designed to help search engines locate images that might not be easily found through standard crawling.

By using the right sitemap for your content, you improve the chances of being found and indexed in search results—an important step in sitemap SEO optimisation.

Explore our full SEO services to see how we can improve visibility, indexing, and search performance across your site.

Why Are Sitemaps Important?

Search engines rely on links to discover pages, but if your content is buried too deep or not linked properly, it may not get picked up. A sitemap gives you control over what’s submitted for crawling and indexing.

For large websites or ones that update frequently, a sitemap acts like a shortcut for bots, pointing them directly to new or updated pages. If your site has thin internal linking or uses parameters that complicate URLs, sitemaps can fill those gaps.

Sitemaps also let search engines know which pages are important. While having a page in a sitemap doesn’t guarantee a better ranking, it does give that URL a better chance of being seen and indexed.

What Is an XML Sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a structured list of URLs saved in XML format. It helps bots crawl your site more efficiently. Instead of relying on links alone, a search engine can visit your XML file and find all the key pages at once—this improves sitemap SEO optimisation, especially on websites with hundreds or thousands of pages.

In short: no sitemap, slower indexing. Good sitemap, better visibility.

Below is how a sitemap should appear on the backend of your website:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>

<urlset 

  xmlns=”http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9″>

  <url>

    <loc>https://www.example.com/</loc>

    <lastmod>2025-05-29</lastmod>

  </url>

  <url>

    <loc>https://www.example.com/about-us</loc>

    <lastmod>2025-05-21</lastmod>

  </url>

  <url>

    <loc>https://www.example.com/services</loc>

    <lastmod>2025-05-20</lastmod>

  </url>

  <url>

    <loc>https://www.example.com/blog/how-to-create-a-sitemap</loc>

    <lastmod>2025-05-15</lastmod>

  </url>

</urlset>

Key points:

• <loc>: This is the full URL of the page.
• <lastmod>: Shows the last time the page was meaningfully updated (optional, but recommended).
• You can add more <url> entries for each page you want indexed.

How To Create a Sitemap

Creating a sitemap doesn’t have to be complicated, but how you build and maintain it can affect how search engines crawl your website. When it comes to sitemap SEO optimisation, the way your sitemap is created plays a big role in keeping it accurate and useful.

Static vs. Dynamic Sitemaps

There are two main ways to build a sitemap: static or dynamic.

Static sitemaps are manually created using tools like Screaming Frog. These are straightforward to generate, but the downside is that they go out of date quickly. If you delete or add a page, you’ll need to manually update the sitemap. Even small content changes won’t reflect automatically unless you edit the <lastmod> tag by hand.

Dynamic sitemaps are a smarter option for most websites. They automatically update when new pages are added or old ones are changed. This helps keep your sitemap aligned with what’s currently live on your site—making sitemap SEO optimisation much easier to manage long-term.

To create a dynamic XML sitemap, you can:

• Ask a developer to write a script that automatically updates it
• Use an online dynamic sitemap generator
• Install a CMS plugin (for example, Yoast SEO or Rank Math for WordPress)

What Needs to Be in a Sitemap?

To be read properly by search engines, your sitemap must start with a few declarations:

• XML version: Usually <?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>

• Namespace: Most sitemaps follow the rules set by sitemaps.org:
• xmlns=”http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9″

Each page you include should be wrapped in a <url> tag. Within that, there are two key elements:

• <loc>: The full, canonical URL of the page. Make sure it uses the correct protocol (http or https) and whether or not you include www.
• <lastmod>: The date the page was last updated. This tag is optional but highly recommended. It tells crawlers which content is fresh and might need revisiting.

Avoid setting <lastmod> to the sitemap generation date. Only update it when the page itself has changed. Faking freshness is a bad signal and could reduce crawler trust.

What to Leave Out

Don’t include <changefreq> or <priority> tags. These were once useful, but search engines no longer use them to guide crawl behaviour.

Keeping your sitemap clean, updated, and valid is a key part of sitemap SEO optimisation. The easier you make it for crawlers to find what matters, the faster your content gets seen.

Check out our technical SEO services to find and fix crawl issues, improve indexing, and boost site structure.

Optimising XML Sitemaps for Better SEO

Getting your sitemap right is one of the most practical steps you can take to support sitemap SEO optimisation. It’s not just about creating the file—it’s about making sure it includes the right URLs, is technically sound, and gives search engines a clear view of your site.

1. Only Include SEO-Relevant Pages

Your sitemap should only contain pages that you actually want to appear in search results. This doesn’t mean every single URL on your site should be listed. In fact, including too many irrelevant or broken pages can hurt your chances of being crawled effectively.

Avoid adding the following to your XML sitemap:

• Redirected pages (301, 302)
• Broken URLs (404 or 410 errors)
• URLs with a noindex tag
• Pages blocked by robots.txt
• Non-canonical versions of the same page
• Pagination or filtered parameter URLs
• Downloadable resources or gated content like PDFs
• Utility pages (login screens, T&Cs, account pages)

A clean sitemap tells search engines which URLs you value most. It’s a signal—not a guarantee—but it helps focus crawling efforts on the pages you care about.

See our SEO tips for financial services to learn how sitemaps and indexing strategies can support your sector

2. Make Sure Your Sitemap Is Valid

Even if your sitemap looks fine, search engines won’t always process it if there’s a technical error. Basic XML validators can check your code, but they won’t catch everything.

For best results, submit your sitemap directly to:

• Google Search Console
• Bing Webmaster Tools

These tools will flag any problems with fetching or reading your file. If you see a red error, click through to see what went wrong, fix it, and resubmit.

Remember, a valid sitemap is key to successful sitemap SEO optimisation. Without it, search engines may skip over pages entirely.

3. Use Sitemap Reporting to Spot Indexing Issues

Sitemap reporting shows you how many submitted URLs were indexed—and how many weren’t.

Let’s say you submit 80,000 pages. If 9,000 are excluded, you need to know which types they are. Grouping your URLs into descriptive sitemap files (e.g. /sitemap-products-womens.xml) can help pinpoint patterns. If most issues are in category pages, you’ll know where to focus your fixes.

Avoid generic names like /products-1.xml or /blog-2.xml. Instead, organise by content type or even by language if you’re running a multilingual site.

Make sure each page only appears in one sitemap, unless you’re dealing with Google News, which is the exception to this rule.

4. Keep Sitemaps Manageable in Size

Search engines allow up to 50,000 URLs in a single sitemap file, but that doesn’t mean you should fill it to the limit.

Some SEOs prefer to cap each file at 10,000 or even 1,000 URLs. This helps with reporting in Search Console, where only 1,000 URLs per sitemap are downloadable. If you’re trying to clean up old content, this smaller size gives you better visibility into which pages were indexed.

Yes, it adds time to your setup. But if accurate sitemap SEO optimisation is your goal, breaking things down pays off in the long run.

XML Sitemap Best Practice Checklist

Before submitting your sitemap, review this list:

• Use dynamic sitemap generation
• Gzip compress your sitemap files
• Include <loc> and <lastmod> tags
• Reference sitemap in your robots.txt
• Submit to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
• Avoid non-indexable or redirected URLs
• Keep each page in only one sitemap
• Use clear, descriptive file names
• Split large sitemaps for easier tracking

Once your sitemap is live, check it regularly and keep it aligned with your current site structure. Sitemap SEO optimization isn’t a one-time task—it’s something that works best when maintained.

Optimise Your Sitemap With SEO

In conclusion, a well-structured sitemap helps search engines discover and prioritise your most valuable content. By including only SEO-relevant pages, keeping your XML files valid, and using smart naming and grouping, you make crawling and indexing more efficient. Sitemap SEO optimisation isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about giving your content the best chance to be seen. Regularly review your sitemap setup to keep it aligned with your site’s structure and growth. Small changes here can lead to better visibility over time.

Read these 11 essential SEO elements to track to keep your entire strategy aligned and effective

FAQs

Sources

McAlpin, J., (2024) 11 essential SEO elements you should be tracking. Martech. [online] Available at: https://martech.org/11-essential-seo-elements-you-should-be-tracking/ [accessed 30/05/2025]