How to optimize XML and HTML sitemaps?

0
3897
optimize XML and HTML sitemaps

A lot of website owners struggle with the progress of their websites. This mostly happens when they do not know about factors which can have a positive or negative impact on the website performance. For instance, if you have XML and HTML sitemaps for your website, its SEO ranks can touch high limits within no time. To start with, let us go through the basic definitions of HTML and XML sitemaps. You can always use a sitemap generator by prepostseo.com to create XML sitemap or HTML sitemap. Such generators are called XML sitemap generator or HTML sitemap generator.

What are HTML and XML site maps?

What is a sitemap? A sitemap is a layout of the website. It identifies the arrangement of pages and the sequence in which they are linked to each other. The sitemap is available in multiple formats including HTML and XML. The HTML format is for users who want to become familiar with the website layout and check the arrangement of pages. For instance, if a user wants to reach the “home page”, he can get this information by looking at the sitemap. In this way, he would not have to check unnecessary tabs.

Similarly, the XML sitemap is for search engines. When Google has to add new pages to the repository or incorporate changes in existing ones, bots execute the crawling and indexing processes. Having an XML sitemap is important if you want the indexing process to speed up. The website would only be viewable among the search results if it has been indexed properly.

Advertisement

The Role of HTML sitemaps

The HTML sitemaps are also considered important like XML sitemaps. They are for end users who visit a new website and want to attain familiarity. When people visit a new website, they do not have any familiarity about the website including tabs, buttons, links and other features as well. All this information is provided through the HTML sitemap. If a user wants to open a particular link, he simply has to open the HTML sitemap and see where the page is present. Consider an example.

  • A lot of people do not want to read the history of the company or the milestones it has achieved in the past. Some of them want to jump to the products page directly. If you have visited a website for the first time, it may be hard to locate the products/services page. With an HTML sitemap, this would become a lot easier. Once you have looked at the sitemap, you would know where the products/services page has been located. In this way, you would not have searched for the page.

Optimization of sitemaps

A lot of website owners do not know that having a sitemap can make a big difference to the SEO rank of a website. You can actually get a lot of conversions if your website has sitemaps in HTML and XML forms. Here are some key points in this relation.

XML sitemaps help in faster indexing of the website

Do you know that indexing is necessary if you want your website to be viewed among the list of searched results? A lot of website owners do not know about this point. They have the opinion that XML sitemaps do not provide any benefits. To start with, if your website carries an XML sitemap, it would be indexed at a faster rate. This is simply because websites with an XML sitemap have an organized layout. This makes it easy for the bots to check the pages and the content they carry. As a result, they get indexed in quick time. This increases the rate of conversions as people are able to view your website without a lot of waiting.

HTML sitemaps improve the level of user experience

As a website owner, if you want your venture to be successful, you should always consider the user preferences. New users take their time when they visit a website because they do not have enough awareness of the features and options. Thus, getting familiarity is very important. If a website has an HTML sitemap, as a new user, you can reach a desired link or page without searching a lot. An HTML sitemap is more like a manual through which you can go through the website without hassle.

Sitemaps improve the overall user experience

A user accepts or rejects a website on the basis of various factors. User experience is one of the important ones. Users do not prefer websites which are hard to use. When you are accessing a new website, assistance is needed so that you can gauge the layout, tabs, and list of features. An HTML sitemap provides users with a complete structure of the website. By looking at the map, even a new user would be able to determine the sequence of pages and how they are linked with each other.

XML sitemaps increase organic searches and traffic rate

The success rate of a website depends on a lot of factors and the most important ones are the rate of traffic. A website that does not have people making visits and spending considerable time spans is not counted as successful. Once the website has been indexed, it can be viewed by users when they execute a related search. In other words, websites which are not indexed cannot be viewed by potential buyers and visitors. Websites with an XML sitemap get indexed without a lot of delays. The quicker a website gets indexed, the quicker it would be viewable to people.

Conclusion

Website owners should make sure that that they offer everything which users seek. You cannot expect a user to develop an understanding for a website immediately as this takes time. However, if your website has an HTML map, this task becomes a lot easier as users can scroll through different pages easily. It is important to understand that users need time to understand how a website operates. With an HTML sitemap, it becomes easy for users to adapt to the structure of the website. Similarly, an XML sitemap gets indexing process completed in a faster manner.

Advertisement

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.