Sitemaps

Search Engines & Spiders

One of the main goals is to optimize search engine results. Search engine optimizations (SEO) allow readers to quickly find websites with the most accurate content they are looking for. XML sitemaps are designed specifically for the benefit of search engine optimization. 

Search engines like Google send ‘spiders’ to crawl through websites to review their content. A spider, also known as a crawler, is a bot that explores web pages accessible through a search engine. Spiders are deployed by the search engines and allow the search engine to catalog the websites they are searching. They ultimately work to optimize the speed and accuracy of search results, thus improving SEO. Testing a new website using a mock spider may increase the likelihood of the site being found by potential readers.

Search engines will send spiders at scheduled times throughout the day. Spiders will only spend a certain amount of time crawling each website, making sitemaps all the more useful. Sitemaps will give the spiders direction as to which pages they should prioritize. This ensures that the search engines know the site’s most essential and relevant information. As search engines look for the most relevant results to a given search, sitemaps can make all the difference.

History of Sitemaps

The first sitemaps were developed and introduced in 2005 by Google, around ten years after the first search engines emerged. They were designed for the same purpose: organizing websites and aiding in search engine optimization. Following the release by Google, other search engines quickly announced support for sitemaps. They have continued to be used by web developers around the globe since.

In the beginning, sitemaps were anything but optional. Over time, they became standard practice and were implemented by virtually every site on the web. As early search engines performed unskillfully, mapping the contents of each website was vital to their appearance as search results. Also, they did much of the heavy lifting regarding the speed and accuracy of search engine queries. 

Fast forward

One of the most noticeable differences between early and modern sitemaps is their formatting. Modern HTML sitemaps can be formatted using images, videos, and plain text. They can be organized into more obvious categories using CSS to make them more accessible for the reader to navigate. Because of their simplicity, they have not changed much.

Current sitemaps do not emphasize metadata such as change frequency and priority as early sitemaps did. While they are still very much familiar, modern sitemaps are not the necessity they once were.

Over the two decades, they have grown quite efficient. Today, it is likely that a search engine can find a website with relevant content without needing a sitemap. This has led to some debate among web developers as to whether sitemaps should exist.

Despite some back and forth, there seems to be a consensus for the time being. Most developers agree that websites should continue to implement them, though they are not as helpful as they once were.

They continue to provide structure to large websites. Also, they aid inconsistency between websites overall. Ultimately, a sitemap can only benefit a website as there are no real downsides to having one.

Business Websites Benefit When Using Sitemaps

Although sitemaps may not be strictly required, there are several benefits that a sitemap can provide:

• They provide a new organization-level vital for large and growing websites. On the one hand, they allow readers to find content more easily.
• There is a  structure for developers to work on as they build the website over time. Serving as a website outline or skeleton, they give developers direction as they move forward. They provide guidelines on how to format and categorize new pages. 
• Outlining the website’s layout can aid in the information presented. Also, they often result in a more readable website in general.
• They can serve as an index or directory and may underscore the critical points in the content as they prioritize the most important pages. A sitemap can help search engines, and readers mentally catalog the information on the site.
• Directing spiders to the essential information can help direct online traffic toward the website. In doing so, they can aid in improving the speed at which search engines process results.

Better to have one

A good sitemap may encourage readers to spend more time on a website. Readers may be interested in diving deeper into the site as the contents of each page are presented to them. In general, the benefits of a sitemap will always outweigh the cost of the time it takes to develop it.

When To Implement Sitemaps

Many developers question if they are worth the time or effort they can implement. This is large since modern search engines can find most content without referencing a sitemap.

SEO company experts generally agree that a sitemap must exist. The benefits of search engine optimization outweigh any inconvenience with writing one.

However, some site map situations may present more of a gray area.

If you use a host such as WordPress, the host may generate a sitemap automatically! Likewise, a sitemap may be unnecessary if your website is small and laid out. This would be the case for a site with only a few pages linked to the main page. Crawlers will likely crawl the entire site within the time allotted to spend on the site for these sites.

A sitemap will be a helpful precaution if your website is more extensive but still organized. While not necessarily required, a sitemap will show the spiders which information is the most important on your site. Search results matching the more critical information on your site will more likely be directed to you.

A Sitemap may also be necessary if your website is new and does not link to external websites. Most websites are found through their connections to other websites. If your site is new and not yet interconnected, a sitemap will be a route to direct traffic to you.

As Google says, “using a sitemap doesn’t guarantee that all the items in your sitemap will be crawled and indexed, as Google processes rely on complex algorithms to schedule crawling. However, in most cases, your sites will benefit from having a sitemap, and you’ll never be penalized for having one.”

How to Implement a Sitemap

They can be pretty simple to implement. Website builders such as WordPress will often add a sitemap to your website. Sitemap generators are also online to make them more accessible to newer developers. However, if you are proficient with HTML, writing a sitemap on your own should come with little difficulty.

An HTML sitemap is generally written as an unordered list. Each list item

Writing an XML sitemap will be a bit more challenging. While it is possible to write an XML file, it requires proficiency with the programming language XML. Using a service that automatically generates the XML file is often more realistic. These services update the sitemap over time to add pages to your site.

There are several suggested best practices when implementing a sitemap. As mentioned previously, running a web crawl using an independent service will improve the efficacy of your sitemap. Any duplicate content that may be highlighted should be removed as it may cause adverse results with a search engine. Sitemaps should also be edited to reflect the correct priority ranking of each page on the website.

Many search engines, including Google, will only review sitemaps less than 10MB. For this reason, more important sites may need to take steps to implement smaller sitemaps. Options include using multiple sitemaps or limiting the content to only the most essential pages.

Takeaway

Despite questions within the web development community, sitemaps are anything but optional. But Sitemaps are vital to the efficacy of digital marketing services:

• Accuracy in search results
• Timeliness of search engines
• Website organization

While it may be easier to skip the sitemap, implementing it is the right call. Any Search Engine Marketer or developer will tell you that it’s paramount.