{"id":21526,"date":"2020-01-30T10:07:46","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T10:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/sitemap"},"modified":"2026-09-21T16:23:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:23:29","slug":"sitemap","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/sitemap","title":{"rendered":"Sitemap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"boxpad alignright size-full wp-image-15205\" style=\"margin-top:0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sitemap-1.jpg\" alt=\"Sitemap\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sitemap-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sitemap-1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>sitemap<\/strong> is a file listing the URLs that a website wants to communicate to search engines. The most common format uses XML and may add information about the last modification date and specific resources such as images, videos or news.<\/p>\n<p>A sitemap supports URL discovery and crawl scheduling, particularly on large or new websites and on pages with few internal links. It does not replace site navigation or guarantee crawling, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/indexing\">indexing<\/a> or ranking for the listed addresses.<\/p>\n\n<h2>XML sitemap contents<\/h2>\n<p>A file based on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sitemaps.org\/protocol.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sitemaps protocol<\/a> places each address in a <code>url<\/code> element. Its most relevant components are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Page address:<\/strong> <code>loc<\/code> contains the absolute URL communicated to the search engine.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Last modification:<\/strong> <code>lastmod<\/code> states when the content changed significantly, provided that the date is accurate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Specialized extensions:<\/strong> these can describe images, videos or news when those resources need additional information.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Encoding and syntax:<\/strong> the file must use UTF-8, valid XML and properly escaped characters.<\/li>\n<li><strong>URL selection:<\/strong> it normally includes canonical, accessible and indexable addresses representing the website&#8217;s current content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The <code>changefreq<\/code> and <code>priority<\/code> tags belong to the protocol, but they do not require search engines to crawl a URL at a specified frequency or priority.<\/p>\n<h2>Sitemap types<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>XML sitemap:<\/strong> a URL list intended primarily for crawling systems.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sitemap index:<\/strong> a file grouping several sitemaps when a website needs to divide its URLs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Image sitemap:<\/strong> an extension providing information about images associated with a page.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Video or news sitemap:<\/strong> specialized formats for content that meets the relevant search engine&#8217;s requirements.<\/li>\n<li><strong>HTML sitemap:<\/strong> a navigable page organizing internal links for users; it can be useful but does not replace the XML protocol.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A website can use several types at the same time. The choice depends on its size, architecture and content types rather than a requirement to maintain one universal file.<\/p>\n<h2>Search engine use<\/h2>\n<p>Search engines process a sitemap as a source of discovery and diagnostic information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Discovery:<\/strong> a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/crawler\">crawler<\/a> obtains addresses it may not yet have found through links.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Crawl scheduling:<\/strong> signals such as a reliable <code>lastmod<\/code> date can help determine when a page should be revisited.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Complex site coverage:<\/strong> it helps communicate large catalogues, archives, recent content or pages with few internal links.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Diagnostics:<\/strong> webmaster tools compare submitted URLs with crawled or indexed addresses and report issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Listing a URL in a sitemap is a request, not a command. The search engine still evaluates accessibility, content, canonicalization, duplicates and other signals before deciding whether to crawl or add it to the index.<\/p>\n<h2>Limits and organization<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Number of URLs:<\/strong> one sitemap can contain up to 50,000 addresses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Size:<\/strong> the file cannot exceed 50 MB uncompressed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Scope:<\/strong> by default, it can only include URLs on the host and within the path compatible with the location from which it is published.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Splitting:<\/strong> websites exceeding the limits must create several files and group them in a sitemap index.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Compression:<\/strong> gzip can reduce transfer size, although the limits apply to the uncompressed content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Organizing files by content type or section can simplify diagnostics, but it does not create a ranking hierarchy for the search engine. Each file should remain current and respond correctly.<\/p>\n<h2>Creation and submission<\/h2>\n<p>The usual process involves these actions:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Generate the URLs:<\/strong> the CMS, an SEO tool or a custom process extracts the addresses meeting the defined criteria.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Validate the file:<\/strong> syntax, limits, response codes, canonicals and potentially blocked or excluded URLs are checked.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Publish it:<\/strong> the sitemap is hosted at a stable address accessible to crawlers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Declare it:<\/strong> its location can be specified with a <code>Sitemap:<\/code> line in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/robots-txt\">robots.txt<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Submit and monitor it:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/google-search-console\">Google Search Console<\/a> and Bing Webmaster Tools allow the address to be communicated and its processing to be reviewed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Content management systems and SEO extensions commonly update the sitemap automatically. On custom-built websites, generation should be synchronized with additions, removals and significant URL changes.<\/p>\n<h2>Errors and validation<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Non-canonical URLs:<\/strong> including duplicates or addresses that differ from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/rel-canonical\">rel canonical<\/a> sends conflicting signals.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Blocked or non-indexable pages:<\/strong> a URL prevented by <code>robots.txt<\/code>, protected or marked <code>noindex<\/code> should not be presented as a valid candidate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Redirects and errors:<\/strong> 3xx, 4xx or 5xx responses reduce the file&#8217;s usefulness and complicate diagnosis.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inaccurate dates:<\/strong> changing <code>lastmod<\/code> without a real content update prevents that signal from being trusted.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inconsistent hosts or protocols:<\/strong> mixing HTTP, HTTPS, <code>www<\/code> and non-<code>www<\/code> variants may communicate addresses that do not match the canonical version.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Outdated file:<\/strong> retaining removed pages or excluding relevant new URLs degrades the website representation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sitemap review forms part of technical <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/seo\">SEO<\/a>, but it should be interpreted alongside actual crawling, internal links, HTTP status codes, canonicals and indexing reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What an XML sitemap is, which information it contains, the available types and limits, and how sitemaps are created, submitted and validated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[1241],"class_list":["post-21526","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-web-crawling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/21526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=21526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}