sitemap.xml
A `sitemap.xml` file is an XML file that helps search engines understand the structure of a website. It lists all the important pages on your site and provides additional information about each page. Here are the key components of a typical `sitemap.xml`:
- URL Set: The root element that wraps all the URLs.
- URL Entry: Each URL entry is defined by the
<url> tag.
- Loc: The
<loc> tag specifies the URL of the page.
- Last Modified: The
<lastmod> tag indicates when the page was last updated.
- Change Frequency: The
<changefreq> tag suggests how often the page is likely to change.
- Priority: The
<priority> tag indicates the priority of the page relative to other pages on the site.
Here is a simple example of a `sitemap.xml`:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1">
<url>
<loc>https://www.example.com/</loc>
<lastmod>2023-10-01</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>1.0</priority>
</url>
<url>
<loc>https://www.example.com/about</loc>
<lastmod>2023-09-15</lastmod>
<changefreq>yearly</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority>
</url>
</urlset>
Including a `sitemap.xml` on your website can improve its visibility and