Jargon Buster / XML Sitemap
XML Sitemap.
Search & AI VisibilityA file listing the pages on your website you want search engines to find, crawl and index.
What is an XML sitemap?
An XML sitemap is a file, usually found at /sitemap.xml, that lists the URLs on a website you want search engines to find and index, often with the date each was last updated. It acts as a guide for crawlers. It does not guarantee any page will be indexed, but it helps search engines discover new and updated pages sooner.
Why it matters
For a small site with good internal links, a sitemap is a safety net. For a larger site, one that adds pages often, or one with pages that are hard to reach through the navigation, it matters more. It also helps after a redesign, when you want Google to pick up new URLs quickly. A sitemap full of redirected, deleted or duplicate pages sends mixed signals and wastes crawling effort.
What good looks like
- Only indexable pages List the pages you want in search. Leave out redirects, error pages, duplicates and anything marked noindex.
- Accurate lastmod dates Google uses the last modified date when it is consistently accurate, and ignores it otherwise.
- Within the limits Each sitemap file can hold up to 50,000 URLs or 50MB uncompressed. Larger sites use several files listed in a sitemap index.
- Submitted and referenced Submit it in Search Console and reference it in your robots.txt file.
The honest view
Sitemaps are simple, and still often wrong. Many website platforms generate them automatically and include tag pages, test pages and old URLs nobody meant to publish.
Google also ignores the priority and changefreq values that some SEO plugins invite you to adjust, so time spent tuning them is wasted. And a sitemap will not rescue a page Google judges to be low quality; all it does is make sure Google knows the page exists.
What to do about it
Open yourdomain.co.uk/sitemap.xml in a browser and skim what is listed. Look for pages that should not be there and important pages that are missing. Check the Sitemaps report in Google Search Console for errors, and compare the number of URLs submitted with the number indexed. If a plugin or platform manages the sitemap, use its settings to exclude thin pages such as tags and archives.
Related terms.
Technical SEO
The behind-the-scenes work that lets search engines crawl, render, understand and index your website.
Search & AI VisibilitySee more GGoogle Search Console
Google's free tool showing how your site performs in search, which queries find you and what is broken.
Search & AI VisibilitySee more SSEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
The work of earning more visibility and enquiries from unpaid search results on Google and other engines.
Search & AI VisibilitySee more CCMS (Content Management System)
Software that lets your team edit and publish website content without touching code.
Brand, Web & DesignSee moreGot a question about your own setup? Let's talk.
Your first call is with our founder, Rhodri Williams.