sitemap.xml
A `sitemap.xml` file is an XML file that lists the URLs for a website, helping search engines like Google to crawl the site more effectively. Here are some key points about `sitemap.xml`:
- Purpose: To inform search engines about pages on your site that are available for crawling.
- Structure: It typically contains the following elements:
- urlset: The root element that contains all the URLs.
- url: Each URL entry that includes other elements such as:
- loc: The location of the URL.
- lastmod: The date the URL was last modified.
- changefreq: How frequently the URL is likely to change.
- priority: The priority of the URL relative to other URLs on the site.
- Format: The file should be encoded in UTF-8 and follow XML syntax rules.
- Location: It is usually placed in the root directory of the website, accessible at example.com/sitemap.xml.
- Submission: You can submit your sitemap to search engines via their webmaster tools.
Creating and maintaining a `sitemap.xml` file is an important step in optimizing your website for search engines.