A `sitemap.xml` file is an XML document that lists all the pages of a website to help search engines understand its structure. Here are some key points about `sitemap.xml`:
- Purpose: It informs search engines about the pages available for crawling.
- Format: The file is written in XML format, which is machine-readable.
- Standard Tags: Common tags used in a sitemap include:
- urlset - The container for all URLs.
- url - Each individual page entry.
- loc - The URL of the page.
- lastmod - The last modification date of the page.
- changefreq - How frequently the page is likely to change.
- priority - The priority of the page relative to other pages on the site.
- Location: Typically placed in the root directory of the website (e.g., https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml).
- Benefits: Improves SEO by helping search engines index the site more efficiently.
To create a simple `sitemap.xml`, you can use the following example structure:
https://www.example.com/
2023-10-01
monthly
1.0
https://www.example.com/about
2023-09-15
yearly
0.8
Make sure to update the `last