Structure your sitemap with homepage at the top, followed by main category pages, then subcategories. Set priority values between 0.1-1.0 based on page importance, with homepage typically at 1.0 and contact pages around 0.3.
Add accurate lastmod dates to help search engines understand when content was updated. This signals fresh content and can improve crawl frequency for recently updated pages.
Keep individual sitemaps under 50,000 URLs and 50MB uncompressed. For larger sites, create multiple sitemaps and use a sitemap index file to organize them efficiently.
Verify your sitemap loads correctly at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml and contains valid XML formatting. Use Google Search Console to test and monitor sitemap status after submission.
According to Stanford University research, websites with both XML sitemaps for search engines and HTML sitemaps for users see 23% better navigation engagement and improved SEO performance.
Automatically regenerate your sitemap when publishing new pages or blog posts. Set up automated submissions to search engines to ensure new content gets discovered quickly.
Optimize website crawlability and indexing for better search engine rankings and visibility.
Generate technical sitemaps quickly without manual coding while maintaining proper XML structure.
Improve website discoverability and help customers find important pages without technical expertise.
Ensure new content gets indexed quickly and organize large content libraries effectively.