What is an HTML sitemap?
An HTML sitemap page is essentially a file that lists and links to various pages on a website, designed to enhance navigation for users. There are 2 types of sitemaps: HTML sitemaps and XML sitemaps:
- HTML sitemaps are crafted for human visitors. They serve as a navigational guide, allowing users to find specific pages and understand the overall structure of the website.
- XML sitemaps are created mainly to help search engines crawl your site more efficiently.
Key Takeaways
- Big benefits for SEO: HTML sitemaps enhance user navigation and help search engines index content efficiently.
- SEO optimization tips: Align your HTML sitemap with robots.txt, include relevant URLs, and exclude non-essential pages.
- Useful sitemap tools: Use tools like Yoast SEO and Octopus to automatically generate and manage (visual) sitemaps effectively.
HTML sitemap vs XML sitemap
Here is the difference between an HTML and an XML sitemap:
Why Do You Need a Sitemap?
The larger and more complex your website is, the more difficult it can be for both users and search engines to navigate. But sitemaps make it easier. The benefits of an HTML sitemap are manifold:
- Improved user experience: It improves site navigation by providing structured links to all pages, making it easier for users to locate the information they need.
- Indexation by Google: Well-structured HTML sitemaps also help search engines locate and index website content more efficiently.
- Discoverability: An XML sitemap helps search engines discover important pages on your website. This is particularly helpful for large websites that have thousands of pages and may be impacted by a limited crawl budget.
This dual functionality of helping both users and search engines makes HTML sitemaps an invaluable tool for any website.
Sitemap SEO Optimization
Optimizing your HTML sitemap for SEO involves several key strategies. First, ensure that your sitemap serves as a roadmap for search engines, helping them discover and index your site content effectively. This is particularly beneficial for new websites with limited external backlinks, as it aids in content discovery.
It is also crucial for your sitemap and robots.txt file to align, as conflicting instructions can confuse search engine crawlers. Make sure to include all relevant URLs in your sitemap to enhance communication with search engines and improve the chances of indexing.
Lastly, exclude non-essential pages like duplicates and errors, including deleted pages, to use the crawl budget more efficiently. Following these optimization strategies can significantly boost your website’s SEO performance.
HTML sitemap examples
When it comes to HTML sitemaps, examples from well-known website pages can provide a clear picture of how they function.
Amazon and Apple’s sitemap example
For instance, websites like Amazon and Apple utilize HTML sitemaps to categorize their extensive content effectively, ensuring users can easily find what they need.
Facebook’s sitemap example
Facebook’s HTML sitemap is another excellent example. It includes links to various sections like Meta Business and Messenger, showcasing its vast structure and making it easier for users to navigate through different parts of the website. These examples demonstrate how HTML sitemaps can be tailored to suit the unique needs of different websites.
XML vs HTML examples
Examining these examples shows that HTML sitemaps go beyond merely listing links. They visually represent the site’s hierarchy and page relationships, making navigation intuitive and enhancing the overall user experience. Have a look at how TEAM LEWIS structured its HTML sitemap as an example. This is an example for what an XML sitemap looks like which can quickly be created using website tools like Yoast.
How to Create a Sitemap: Key Elements
Creating an effective HTML sitemap involves following best practices and avoiding common html sitemap mistakes. Here are some key points to consider:
- Maintain a structured format that clearly shows the hierarchy from main sections to individual pages.
- Ensure that the sitemap is easy to navigate for both users and search engines.
- Regularly update the sitemap to reflect any changes in the website’s layout.
Structure/Organization
The most crucial element of HTML sitemaps is the structure and organization of links. By creating an easily understandable hierarchy, users will be able to follow a content path down to individual pages and crawl bots will be able to see the relationship between different pages, giving better visibility of your site’s structure.
A sitemap should contain all the pages you want to be crawled and ranked by Google, Yahoo, and Bing. There are two main elements to a sitemap.
- Page priority: page priority is on a scale of .01-1.0. Your homepage will always be a 1.0 and your main service and product pages will be 0.9.
- Change frequency: This tells the search engine crawlers how often you want them to crawl a page. These change frequencies include daily, weekly, and monthly.
Note: A sitemap should mirror your Robots txt file. The Robots file tells search engines what URLs NOT to crawl. That means you don’t want pages that are excluded in your Robots file to be in your sitemap and vice versa.
Optimized Anchor Text
It is vital to use relevant, keyword-rich anchor text when creating an HTML sitemap. As a result, it will inherit PageRank from the homepage, which means an increase in authority. Using well-optimized anchor text when linking from the HTML sitemap to relevant pages will improve the link quality score for the pages being linked to.
Video Sitemap
If a site contains hosted videos, utilizing a video sitemap will inform search engines about video content and updates.
Limit Links
The number of links contained on an HTML sitemap should be less than 100. For larger sites, it is recommended to create multiple theme-based sitemaps.
Static Page
An HTML sitemap should be a fixed page, rather than an image or flash file. This will ensure search engines can properly read the sitemap.
There are many plugins out there for WordPress including the Yoast plugin. The Yoast plugin creates multiple sitemaps automatically for you to submit to Google through the Google search console (formally known as webmaster tools).
It’s important to submit a sitemap to Google through the search console so you can find out if you have any errors in your sitemap.
HTML Sitemap Generator Website Tools
Best HTML Sitemap Plugins for WordPress
Generating an HTML sitemap manually can be a daunting task, especially for larger websites. Thankfully, there are numerous tools available to simplify this process. Yoast SEO and Rank Math are widely recommended plugins for WordPress that can generate and manage sitemaps automatically. These tools offer advanced SEO features and content filtering options, making them highly effective.
Sitemap Generator For Websites
Screaming Frog and XML-Sitemaps.com are notable tools for both website crawling and sitemap generation. Screaming Frog can crawl websites and generate insights for designing HTML sitemaps, while XML-Sitemaps.com allows users to create and download sitemaps in various formats, including HTML.
Slickplan offers a drag-and-drop interface for designing visual sitemaps, allowing for a customizable layout for those who prefer a visual approach. Such tools streamline the sitemap creation process, saving time and effort for website owners.
Visual Website Sitemap Generator
Tools like Octopus.do allow you to create a visual sitemap which you can easily export with the export-feature.
Automating HTML sitemaps
For big websites like e-commerce sites with several brands or frequently changing products, it is beneficial to have an automated HTML sitemap. By automatically updating links, the amount of broken links and manual updates will be reduced. For example, the Zappos sitemap offers a “view all brands” option.
An automated sitemap allows for an easy way to update the numerous listed brands, which improves the user experience and search engine “crawl-ability.”
Conclusion
In summary, HTML sitemaps are a powerful tool for improving both user navigation and SEO. They provide a comprehensive map of your website, helping users find what they need and assisting search engines in crawling and indexing your site effectively. By following best practices and utilizing the right tools, you can create an HTML sitemap that enhances your website’s performance.
Remember, an effective HTML sitemap is not just about listing links; it’s about creating a user-friendly and search engine-friendly blueprint of your website. As you implement these strategies, you’ll see tangible improvements in your website’s usability and search engine rankings.
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Rick is an SEO Manager, trainer and speaker at TEAM LEWIS who helps global brands increase their organic search visibility, traffic and conversions.
