How do I Optimize My XML Sitemap?

XML sitemaps are a key part of your technical SEO strategy. They help search engines crawl your website more effectively.

In this guide, I’ll explain what XML sitemaps are and how to optimize them to boost your SEO.

Table of Contents

What are XML sitemaps?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the URLs on your website, making it easier for search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo to find and crawl your pages. XML sitemaps can also include extra details about each URL, helping crawlers understand the content better.

If you’re not familiar with XML sitemaps, check out another article on the Oncrawl blog: XML Sitemaps: The Swiss Army Knife of Technical SEO. It’s a great beginner’s guide to help you understand how they work.

Why are XML sitemaps important for SEO?

XML sitemaps are important for several reasons, but the main one is that they help search engines discover your pages. By providing an XML sitemap, you make sure that key pages on your site are crawled efficiently.

In fact, Gary Illyes, a webmaster trends analyst at Google, mentioned at a conference that Googlebot uses sitemaps to find new content. He said:

“80% of discovery happens by following links, and about 20% happens through sitemaps.”
(Source: Google)

For more on why XML sitemaps are important for SEO, check out this blog post on Oncrawl.

Also Read: What are the Must‑do Steps for a Technical SEO Audit?

A quick note on crawl budget and XML sitemaps

Your sitemap provides a list of URLs for search engines to crawl, but it’s important to understand what a crawl budget is and how it affects your XML sitemaps.

Google defines crawl budget as the number of URLs Googlebot can and wants to crawl, based on the crawl rate and demand. Keep in mind, Googlebot can only crawl a limited number of URLs, so it’s helpful to guide it to the most important ones using your sitemap. This way, Googlebot focuses on your high-priority pages rather than wasting resources on low-value ones.

XML sitemaps won’t stop Google from crawling low-value URLs, but they help prioritize the important ones.

Submit your XML sitemaps to search engines

It’s a good idea to submit your XML sitemaps to search engines using their webmaster tools. If you don’t have access yet, here are some guides to help you set up:

Guide to Google Search Console
Guide to Bing Webmaster Tools

By submitting your sitemap, you can access useful data like errors, the last time your site was crawled, and how many URLs were found.

Also Read: How does HTTPS Migration Affect SEO?

Types of XML sitemaps

For different types of web content, like images and videos, there are two main types of XML sitemaps: a sitemap index and a sitemap file. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Sitemap Index File
This file acts as a map for your sitemaps. It lists the locations of your individual sitemap files and when they were last updated.

Sitemap File
This is a list of URLs you want Googlebot to crawl, with additional details like the last modified date, how often content changes, and its priority.

6 Tips to Optimize Your XML Sitemap

Now, let’s dive into some tips for optimizing your XML sitemap to improve SEO:

Follow the sitemaps.org protocol
To make sure search engines can read your sitemap, it must follow the sitemaps.org protocol. Your XML sitemap should:
- Start with a <urlset> tag and end with a </urlset> tag.
- Specify the namespace within the <urlset> tag.
- Include a <url> entry for each URL, with a <loc> entry for each one.
Structure XML sitemaps by site section
One great way to manage your sitemap is by breaking it down into sections, like products, blog posts, and directories. This helps keep things organized and easy to track in Google Search Console.
Include only your ‘money pages’
Only include URLs in your sitemap that are important for SEO and revenue—these are often called your ‘money pages’. Don’t waste your crawl budget on pages that don’t add value.
Avoid non-200 HTTP status codes
Don’t include URLs that return errors (non-200 HTTP status codes) in your sitemap. These pages waste your crawl budget and hurt SEO, since they can’t be indexed properly.
Avoid noindexed URLs
Don’t put URLs marked as “noindex” in your sitemap. These pages won’t show up in search results, so there’s no need for Googlebot to crawl them.
Avoid URLs that canonicalize to another URL
If a URL points to a canonical version (another URL), don’t include it in your sitemap. Like noindex pages, there’s no reason for Googlebot to crawl these if they shouldn’t rank.

Also Read: How can I Optimize Website Speed?

The Bottom Line

XML sitemaps are an essential part of your technical SEO strategy. By following the tips in this guide, you can optimize your sitemaps and help search engines crawl your site more efficiently, boosting your SEO performance.