XML sitemap
A table of contents written for crawlers. Your customers use the menu instead.
What does XML sitemap mean?
A file that lists the public pages of a website so a search engine can find them, separate from the visual menu visitors click.
Also called: sitemap.xml
Two different maps
The menu is for people. An XML sitemap is a plain list of addresses, usually at a path like /sitemap.xml, meant for Google and other crawlers. It can include pages that are linked, and it should skip pages you do not want found, such as a private draft or a thank-you screen after a form.
Submitting the list in Google Search Console asks Google to look. It does not compel Google to index every line, and it does not assign a rank. A page that is blocked in robots.txt, or that copies another page, can sit in the file and still stay out of results.
What belongs on the list
Public service pages, the home page, and any article you actually want someone to land on. Leave off thin doorway pages that only swap a town name, duplicate printer-friendly copies, and old campaigns you meant to retire. A short honest list is easier to maintain than a dump of every address the site ever published.
After a migration, the sitemap should name the new addresses, and the old addresses should redirect. Listing a dead URL in the new file just advertises a hole.
Who updates it
On a site we host, the list should update when a public page is added or removed. You should not have to regenerate a file by hand. If a plugin or a builder has a toggle marked hide from search, check it before you blame Google for ignoring a page you thought was public.
Owners rarely need to open the file. If a page is missing from search, look first at whether people can reach it from the menu, whether it says something distinct, and whether Search Console reports an exclusion. The file is one clue, not the whole diagnosis.
An example
A mover published a city page for every town in two states, and the sitemap listed all of them. The pages repeated the same three sentences. Cleaning the business down to the routes they actually drive, and listing only those pages, gave crawlers a map that matched the work. It did not come with a promise about positions.
Questions we get asked
Is an HTML sitemap the same thing?
No. An HTML sitemap is a page of links for visitors who are lost. An XML sitemap is a machine-readable file. A small business usually needs the XML file. A human page of links is optional if the menu is already clear.
Can a sitemap replace internal links?
No. Crawlers still follow links from page to page. A service that is only in the XML file and nowhere in the menu is easy to orphan. Link the important pages from the home page.
