An XML (Extensible Markup Language) Sitemap is a text file used to detail all URLs on a website. It can include extra information (metadata) on each URL, ...
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XMLSitemaps
WhatisanXMLSitemap?
AnXML(ExtensibleMarkupLanguage)SitemapisatextfileusedtodetailallURLsonawebsite.Itcanincludeextrainformation(metadata)oneachURL,withdetailsofwhentheywerelastupdated,howimportanttheyareandwhetherthereareanyotherversionsoftheURLcreatedinotherlanguages.Allofthisisdonetohelpthesearchenginescrawlyourwebsitemoreefficiently,allowinganychangestobefedtothemdirectly,includingwhenanewpageisaddedoranoldoneremoved.
ThereisnoguaranteethatanXMLSitemapwillgetyourpagescrawledandindexedbysearchengines,buthavingonecertainlyincreasesyourchances,particularlyifyournavigationorgeneralinternallinkingstrategydoesn’tlinktoallofyourpages.
SitemapExample:
https://www.example.com
2017-10-06
weekly
0.9
GlossaryofTagsUsedinaSitemap
-TheSitemapopensandcloseswiththistag.Itisthecurrentprotocolstandard.
-ThisistheparenttagforeachURLentry.
-ThistagcontainstheabsoluteURL,orthelocatorofthepage.
-Thiscontainsinformationaboutthefile’slastmodifieddate.ItshouldbeinYYYY-MM-DDformat.
-Thiscontainsinformationaboutthefrequencywithwhichafileischanged.
-Thisindicatesthefile’simportancewithinthesite.Thevaluerangesfrom0.0to1.0.
AGlossaryofTagsUsedinanImageSitemap
-ThistagencloseseachimageURL.Youcanlistupto1000suchtags.
-ThiscontainstheURLoftheimage.
-Thistagcontainsacaptionfortheimage.Itisoptional.
-Youcanspecifyageographiclocationoftheimageinthistag.Itisoptional.
-Thiscontainsatitlefortheimage.Itisoptional.
<license>-ThistagcontainstheURLpointingtothelicenseoftheimage.Itisoptional.
Itmaynotbepossibletogetyourentiresiteindexed,evenwiththeperfectSitemap.Itispossible,however,todiscovertheindexationissuesofyoursitebyhavingaflawlessSitemap.Todothis,analyzeanySitemaperrorsinGoogleSearchConsoleandBingWebmasterTools,checkwhichpagesareindexedversustheURLsyouhavesubmittedandifthereisavastdifferenceinthisratioorasuddenincreaseordecreaseinthesenumbers,besuretocheckyourSitemaps.Theymayrevealotherproblemsonyoursite,suchasproblemswithyourrobots.txtfile,duplicatecontentandsoon.Therearemanytoolsthatcanbeusedtoimportandcrawlallofthepagesreferencedinyoursitemaps(suchasScreamingFrog),allowingyoutoeasilyspotanyissuesorunnecessaryredirects.
VideoSitemaps
There’salotyoucantellsearchenginesaboutyourpage’svideoresourcesinsitemaps:
<player_loc>-TheURLpointingtotheplayerforthevideo.Ifyourvideoisembeddedonyourpage,likefromYouTubeorVimeo,youcanusethistaginsteadof<content_loc>.YoucannormallyfindthisURLinthevideo’sembedcode.
<duration>-Thevideo’slengthinminutes,between0and28800(8hours).Thisisn’ttechnicallyrequired,butGooglerecommendsit.
<expiration_date>-Onlyincludethisinformationifyourvideowillnotbeavailableafteracertaindate.Ifyoudouseit,putdatesinYYYY-MM-DDformat,andtimesinThh:mm:ss:TZDformat.
<rating>-Thevideo’srating.Onlyvaluesbetween0.0and5.0arevalid.
<view_count>-Thenumberoftimesthevideohasbeenwatched.
<publication_date>-Thedatethevideowasfirstpublished,notthedateyouputitonyoursite.
<family_friendly>-IfNo,yourvideowillonlyappearinsearchresultswhentheuserdisablesSafeSearch.Otherwise,makethisYes.
<tag>-Averyshortdescriptionofkeyconceptsrelatedtoyourvideo.Createaseparate<tag>elementforeachtagyouuse,upto32tags.
<category-thebroadsubjectyourvideocovers>-Alistofcountrieswherethevideocannotplay,oralistoftheonlycountriesinwhichuserscanaccessthevideo,dependentonwhetheryousetrelationshipasallowordeny.Thelistisspace-delimitedandusestheISO3166countrycodes.Ifyoudon’tusethistag,itwillbeassumedthatyourvideoisavailableglobally.
<gallery_loc>-TheURLwhereyoucanfindthecollectioninwhichyourvideoappears,ifthereisone.Eachvideocanhaveonlyonegallery_loctag.Ifyourgalleryhasatitleyoucanaddthetitleattribute.
<pricecurrency>-Thepricetodownloadthevideo.Thecurrency=attributeisrequiredandusestheISO4217currencycode.Addtheoptionaltype=attributetospecifyifthedownloadistoownorrent,andresolution=tospecifyifthevideoisinHDorSD.Youcanusethismultipletimesforeachcurrencyyouaccept.
<requires_subscription>-Allowedvaluesareyesandnotoindicatewhetherornotasubscriptionisrequiredtowatchthevideo.
<uploader>-Ifyourvideoisembeddedfromanothervideosite,putthenameofthehosthere.ThisURLmustbethesamedomainasthe<loc>tag.
<platform_relationship>-Theplatforms,web,mobile,andtv,wherethevideocanorcannotbeaccessed.Therelationship=attributedefineswhetherthelistisinclusiveorexclusive.Youcanhaveonlyoneplatformtagpervideo.
<live>-Whetherornotthevideoisalivestream.Onlyyesornoarevalid.
XMLSitemapSizeLimits
XMLsitemapsarelimitedbysize,bothinnumberofURLsyoucanincludeandinfilesize.Sitemapscanonlyhave50,000entries,withupto1,000imagesandamaxsizeof10MB.Ifyou’vegotareallybigsitethathaslotsofpages,imagesand/orvideos,you’llneedtocreatemultiplesitemaps.Ifyouencounterthis,you’llneedtocreateasitemapofsitemaps,knownasaSitemapIndexFile.
SitemapsinGoogleSearchConsole
TheSitemapssectionallowsyoutomonitorallofyourSitemapsfromoneplace,providingasummaryoftheSitemapsthathavebeensubmittedviatheGoogleSearchConsoleaccount.Thisincludesasnapshotofdata,includingtheSitemaptype,thedatestheyweremostrecentlyprocessed,anyissuesthathavebeenidentifiedandthenumberofpagessubmitted/indexedperSitemapandoverall.
It’salsopossibletotestorresubmitSitemapsbyclickingontheSitemapthatyouwishtosubmit,thenselectingthe‘ResubmitSitemap’or‘TestSitemap’button.
Conclusion
Whendoneright,XMLsitemapsarehelpsearchenginesquicklyfind,crawlandindexwebsites.Makesureyou’veproperlyformatted,compressedandsubmittedyourXMLsitemaptosearchenginestogetthemostoftheiradvantages:
Younolongerneedtorelyonlinkingtogetyourpagescrawled.
Searchengineswillseeneworupdatedsitesandpagesmorequickly.
Botscancrawlpagesmoreintelligentlythankstothemetainformationavailableinsitemaps.
Youcanmakesurethatsearchenginesarefindingimportantinformationaboutimagesandvideos,whichareinaccessibletocrawlers.
HaveyoucreatedandsubmittedanXMLsitemapforyourwebsite?Whatbenefitshaveyounoticed?Didyouencounteranychallenges?
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</live></platform_relationship></loc></uploader></requires_subscription></pricecurrency></gallery_loc></category-thebroadsubjectyourvideocovers></tag></tag></family_friendly></publication_date></view_count></rating></expiration_date></duration></content_loc></player_loc></license>
