Best Practices for XML Sitemaps

XML sitemaps have become an essential component of modern SEO (Search Engine Optimization). They help search engines understand your website’s structure, discover new pages more quickly, and ensure that important content is crawled.

Yet, many website owners either don’t know how to create an XML sitemap or don’t take full advantage of the benefits it can offer.

In this blog, we’ll shed light on what XML sitemaps are, how they contribute to faster indexing, and the best practices to ensure that your XML sitemap serves its primary purpose: making your content discoverable to search engines.

By following these guidelines, you’ll be better positioned to improve your site’s overall SEO health.

The file’s structure is governed by a specific protocol recognized by search engines like Google and Bing, ensuring they can parse and understand the file.

The primary purpose of an XML sitemap is to help search engines crawl your website more intelligently.

Although most search engines can discover pages through internal links and backlinks, sitemaps expedite this process and help them find deeper or newly added pages without delay.

Below is a simplified version of how an XML sitemap might look. This is just a small sample to demonstrate the structure:

<?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>2025-03-12</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
  </url>
  
  <url>
    <loc>https://www.example.com/blog</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-03-20</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

</urlset>

Each <url> block represents a single page on your website. While the <changefreq> and <priority> tags are not strictly required, we’ll explore later why you might or might not want to include them.

Instead of waiting for a crawler to discover your new pages through internal links or external links, the sitemap effectively provides direct “addresses” to those pages.

Search engines may miss specific pages—especially on large or complex websites—if they’re only relying on normal crawling methods. For instance, if a page is too deep within the site hierarchy or if internal linking is not optimized, that page might go unnoticed for a long time.

An XML sitemap addresses this issue by highlighting all your essential content in one place.

An XML sitemap also offers a level of control over which URLs you want search engines to see. For example, you can exclude pages that are duplicate or low-quality, ensuring you direct crawlers toward your most valuable content.

This is extremely helpful in maintaining a clean and efficient crawling process, which, in turn, can positively impact your technical SEO performance.

The method you choose depends on the size and complexity of your site, as well as how comfortable you are with technical tasks.

This involves writing out the XML code yourself, using the appropriate XML tags, and ensuring it validates against the sitemap protocol.

While this approach gives you full control, it can be labor-intensive and prone to human error, especially as your website grows.

You can create a script (in languages like PHP, Python, or Ruby) that automatically checks your database for new or updated URLs, then updates the sitemap file in real-time or on a regular schedule.

These tools update sitemaps whenever you publish or update content, which makes the process straightforward and less prone to oversight.

You typically provide your website’s domain, and the tool crawls your site to produce an XML file.

While convenient, these free or low-cost generators may have limitations, such as a maximum number of URLs they can process.

This ensures you haven’t introduced any errors that might prevent search engines from reading your sitemap.

Below are some essential components and guidelines.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

UTF-8 encoding is the most commonly used encoding format for sitemaps.

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
   ...
</urlset>

This namespace tells crawlers which version of the sitemap protocol you’re using.

Keep your last modification dates in a valid format (often YYYY-MM-DD or full timestamps).

Use a site-specific validator or the sitemap testing tools available in Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools to check for errors or warnings.

If any structural or syntactic errors exist, search engines may reject your sitemap, leading to indexing issues.

Below are guidelines to help you get the most out of your XML sitemaps.

• Including only SEO-relevant and canonical URLs

  Your sitemap should reflect the content you actually want search engines to index. For instance, you don’t need to include admin pages, temporary landing pages, or test URLs.

  In addition, if you have multiple versions of the same page (like http://example.com and https://example.com), choose one canonical URL and list only that one. Including non-canonical or duplicate pages can confuse search engines and dilute your SEO efforts.

• Excluding “noindex” or low-quality pages

  Pages marked with a noindex directive in their meta tags or robots.txt do not need to be in your sitemap. Doing so would be counterproductive, as you’re signaling to search engines that you don’t want these pages indexed anyway.

  Furthermore, low-quality or thin content pages can drag down your site’s overall perceived quality, so keep them out of the sitemap if they don’t serve a specific user or SEO purpose.

• Keeping the sitemap file small & well-structured

  A single sitemap file can handle up to 50,000 URLs or 50MB in uncompressed size.

  If you exceed this, you can split your sitemap into multiple files and use a sitemap index file that points to each separate sitemap file. This approach ensures your sitemap remains readable and doesn’t exceed the limits set by search engines.

• Using dynamic sitemaps for large websites

  If your site is large or frequently updated, maintaining a static sitemap file can become a chore.

  Dynamic sitemap generation ensures the file remains accurate and up to date. This is especially relevant for big e-commerce sites, news portals, or any platform with time-sensitive content.

• Avoiding outdated signals (like overusing changefreq or priority)

  While <changefreq> and <priority> are part of the sitemap protocol, search engines often don’t rely heavily on these tags for ranking or crawling frequency.

  Some website owners mistakenly put the priority at 1.0 for all their pages, hoping it will boost their rankings. Instead, use these tags judiciously and only if they genuinely reflect the content’s importance or update frequency.

Google Search Console: Sign in to your Google Search Console account, select your property, and navigate to “Sitemaps” under the “Index” section. Enter the sitemap URL (often found at something like https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml) and click “Submit.” Google will then validate the sitemap and let you know if there are any errors.

Bing Webmaster Tools: Similarly, sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools, select your website, and submit your sitemap under the “Sitemaps” section. You can review any feedback or errors in your account.

Linking in robots.txt: Another helpful way to signal search engines about your sitemap is to reference it in your robots.txt file. At the bottom of robots.txt, add a line like:

Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

Most search engine crawlers regularly check robots.txt, so this method serves as a backup to ensure they’re aware of your sitemap’s location.

If you’re using a dynamic generator or a CMS plugin, these updates often happen automatically. If not, establish a schedule to revise your sitemap whenever major site changes occur.

While not guaranteed to affect how often a page is crawled, it can still signal that a page is fresh and potentially relevant.

They also help you see if your sitemap is free of unnecessary redirects or 404 pages that could hamper your crawl efficiency.

This can potentially improve your site’s visibility in image search results.

This detailed information may increase your chances of appearing in video search results or SERP features like video carousels.

This type of sitemap can include additional metadata like publication date and genre, ensuring quicker indexing for timely topics.

Some site owners create both an XML sitemap (for search engines) and an HTML sitemap (for human visitors).

Here are some common mistakes:

• Including every possible URL

  Adding too many insignificant or duplicate URLs can dilute the importance of your primary pages. Keep your sitemap focused on quality.

• Neglecting updates

  Once you have a sitemap, you must keep it current. Outdated URLs or incorrect lastmod dates can lead to slower, less efficient indexing.

• Using inconsistent URL formats

  Sometimes websites are accessible under both www and non-www, or HTTP and HTTPS. Make sure your sitemap consistently matches the preferred domain format.

• Ignoring crawl errors

  If your site has many 404 errors or 301 redirects, including them in the sitemap can waste crawl budget and confuse search engines. Fix these errors before listing the URLs.

• Exceeding size or URL limits

  Large sites sometimes forget to split their sitemap into multiple files. This can cause search engines to ignore or truncate the sitemap. Always stay within file size and URL count constraints.

• Incorrect usage of lastmod, changefreq, and priority

  Over-optimizing or misrepresenting these values can be seen as manipulative. Use them accurately, but don’t expect them to drastically change your site’s indexing or rank.

• Q1: Do I really need an XML sitemap if my site is small and well-linked internally?

  Technically, search engines can discover your content through internal and external links. However, having an XML sitemap ensures every important URL is discovered faster and with less chance of being overlooked. It’s beneficial even for smaller sites, especially if you add new content frequently.

• Q2: How often should I update my sitemap?

  If you have a static website with rarely changing content, updating your sitemap occasionally should suffice. But if you post new content regularly, use a dynamic approach or automate the update via a CMS plugin.

• Q3: Will including all my pages in the sitemap improve my SEO rankings?

  Listing all pages alone won’t automatically boost rankings. It helps ensure pages are discovered. Ranking depends on many other factors, like content quality, relevance, backlinks, and user experience.

• Q4: Can I have multiple sitemaps?

  Yes. If you have a large website with tens of thousands of URLs, you can split them into multiple sitemaps (e.g., one for blog posts, one for products, etc.) and reference them in a sitemap index file.

• Q5: Do I need to use the <changefreq> and <priority> tags?

  These tags are optional. Search engines often don’t heavily rely on them for crawling. It’s safer to provide accurate values if you do use them, but don’t expect them to outweigh factors like content quality or domain authority.

• Q6: How do I know if search engines are using my sitemap?

  You can check your Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools to see the indexing status, errors, and other information. This feedback will confirm if the sitemap is being crawled and if there are any issues.

Think of it as your website’s “table of contents” for search engines, guiding them through your content efficiently.

By following these best practices, you’ll ensure that search engines have a clear roadmap to your content, giving you a better shot at faster indexing and stronger organic visibility.

Even though creating and maintaining an XML sitemap might seem like an extra step, it’s an indispensable part of a holistic SEO strategy.