A `sitemap.xml` file is an XML file that helps search engines understand the structure of a website. It provides a list of the pages on the site and their relationships, which can improve search engine optimization (SEO). Here’s a simple overview of its components:
- URL Set
- url: Represents a single web page.
- loc: The URL of the page.
- lastmod: The date when the page was last modified.
- changefreq: How frequently the page is likely to change (e.g., daily, weekly).
- priority: The priority of this URL relative to other URLs on the site.
Here’s a basic example of a `sitemap.xml` file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1">
<url>
<loc>http://www.example.com/</loc>
<lastmod>2023-10-01</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>1.0</priority>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://www.example.com/about</loc>
<lastmod>2023-09-15</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>0.8</priority>
</url>
</urlset>
This file should be placed in the root directory of your website. Submitting it to search engines can help them index your site more effectively.