A `sitemap.xml` file is an XML file that helps search engines understand the structure of your website. It provides information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them. Here’s a simple outline of its structure:
- XML Declaration: Indicates the file is an XML document.
- urlset: The root element that contains all the URLs.
- url: Each URL entry includes the following:
- 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.
Here is a simple example of a `sitemap.xml`:
```xml
https://www.example.com/
2023-10-01
daily
1.0
https://www.example.com/about
2023-09-15
monthly
0.8
```
This format helps search engines crawl your site more efficiently and index it properly.