XML Sitemap.

An XML Sitemap is a structured file that lists all the important URLs on a website, providing metadata about each page—when it was last modified, how often it changes, and its priority relative to other pages. Search engines use sitemaps to discover pages that might not be well-linked internally, prioritise crawling, and understand the overall structure of a site.

Sitemap Best Practices

Effective XML sitemaps include only indexable pages (no noindex, no soft 404s, no redirect targets); are dynamically generated so they stay current; are split into multiple sitemaps for large sites (max 50,000 URLs or 50MB per file, managed via a sitemap index file); and are submitted via Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Include the sitemap URL in robots.txt for automatic discovery.

What to Include and Exclude

Include: core pages, blog posts, category pages, product pages, and any URL you want indexed. Exclude: noindexed pages, redirect URLs, thank you pages, admin pages, and duplicate content. A sitemap that includes many low-quality or non-indexable pages wastes crawl budget and signals poor site hygiene.