XML Sitemaps

• Standard XML format
• Machine-readable structure
• URL prioritization
• Change frequency

HTML Sitemaps

• Human-readable format
• Hierarchical structure
• Content categorization
• Navigation aid

Essential Elements

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/page</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-06-01</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

Best Practices

• Use absolute URLs
• Include lastmod dates
• Set appropriate priorities
• Specify change frequency

Organization

• Clear hierarchy
• Logical grouping
• Descriptive labels
• Consistent structure

Example Structure

<nav class="sitemap">
  <ul>
    <li>
      <h2>Main Category</h2>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="/subcategory">Subcategory</a>
          <ul>
            <li><a href="/page">Page Title</a></li>
          </ul>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </li>
  </ul>
</nav>

Content Relationships

• Topic clustering
• Content hierarchy
• Related content links
• Semantic connections

Metadata Enhancement

• Schema markup
• Content types
• Topic indicators
• Relationship signals

XML Sitemap

1. Generate base sitemap
2. Add metadata attributes
3. Validate structure
4. Submit to search engines

HTML Sitemap

1. Plan content hierarchy
2. Create navigation structure
3. Add descriptive labels
4. Implement semantic HTML

Structure Issues

• Inconsistent hierarchy
• Missing relationships
• Poor organization
• Broken links

Technical Problems

• Invalid XML
• Missing metadata
• Outdated information
• Incomplete coverage

XML Testing

• Validate syntax
• Check URLs
• Verify metadata
• Test submission

HTML Testing

• Check navigation
• Verify links
• Test accessibility
• Validate structure