{"id":8766,"date":"2023-03-24T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/"},"modified":"2023-03-24T15:00:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:00:39","slug":"when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/","title":{"rendered":"When and how to use HTML sitemaps for SEO and UX"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Google search advocate John Mueller has always downplayed the value of HTML sitemaps. Recently, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seroundtable.com\/google-html-sitemaps-not-needed-34537.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reiterated his dissatisfaction<\/a> with HTML sitemaps, saying:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI changed my mind on HTML sitemaps over the years, they should never be needed. Sites small [and] large should always have a clear navigational structure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is a slightly stronger stance than what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seroundtable.com\/google-html-sitemaps-not-needed-34537.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he\u2019s expressed in the past<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to SEO \u2026 for small sites, your site should be crawlable anyway (and if you\u2019re using a common CMS, it\u2019ll almost always be fine) &amp; for large sites, they\u2019re not going to be useful anyway (use sitemaps, use normal cross-linking, check with a crawler of your choice).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Mueller makes a good point, in my opinion, we can\u2019t just completely drop<strong> <\/strong>HTML sitemaps. Links and website usability still matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I also like what former Googler and now popular SEO expert Pedro Dias <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@pedrodias\/109477629706172380\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said in response<\/a> to Mueller\u2019s remarks, which reflects the reality of the web:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately it\u2019s not easy to change the architecture on complex and large websites. Often, something like this, [sic!] can take years to change, as it depends on multiple teams. So, HTML sitemaps are often a welcome and temporary-ish solution. I used to dislike them\u2026 Nowadays, I see their use-cases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is a compromise between both HTML and XML sitemaps, so as always in SEO, \u201cit depends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read below why, when and how to use sitemaps to benefit your website and its users.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#What_are_sitemaps_and_why_did_they_get_invented\" >What are sitemaps and why did they get invented?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#HTML_vs_XML_sitemaps_%E2%80%93_the_visible_vs_the_invisible\" >HTML vs. XML sitemaps \u2013 the visible vs. the invisible<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Why_should_we_create_sitemaps_solely_for_Google\" >Why should we create sitemaps solely for Google?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Making_XML_sitemaps_work_for_people\" >Making XML sitemaps work for people<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#When_to_use_visual_or_HTML_sitemaps\" >When to use visual or HTML sitemaps<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Legacy_andor_hard-coded_sites\" >Legacy and\/or hard-coded sites<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Large_sites\" >Large sites<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Alternative_to_mega_menus\" >Alternative to mega menus<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Sites_without_internal_search\" >Sites without internal search<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Orphan_pages\" >Orphan pages<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Faster_indexing\" >Faster indexing\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Better_link_equity\" >Better link equity<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Usability\" >Usability<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Useful_sitemap_examples_in_the_wild\" >Useful sitemap examples in the wild<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#The_New_York_Times\" >The New York Times\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/when-and-how-to-use-html-sitemaps-for-seo-and-ux\/#Applecom\" >Apple.com<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_sitemaps_and_why_did_they_get_invented\"><\/span>What are sitemaps and why did they get invented?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In the early days of the web, many websites grew organically.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Websites weren\u2019t appropriately planned by information architects according to UX best practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They started from scratch, and webmasters added content whenever needed in often far-from-usable ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Those were the days before blogs, social media or content management systems. When you built a site, you did it yourself using HTML.<\/p>\n<p>In most cases, you were manually coding the HTML in a text editor, using a messy WYSIWYG editor like Dreamweaver or one of the first often custom-built and pretty cumbersome CMS tools. Either way, website structures quickly became confusing.<\/p>\n<p>So out of necessity, people started adding sitemaps to their websites to make some sense of the increasing disorder. Those sitemaps were created in plain HTML and looked like any other webpage, part of the fact that they displayed a map instead of written content.<\/p>\n<p>Later search engines introduced so-called <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/managing-sitemap-xml-with-google-search-console-311790\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">XML sitemaps<\/a> meant to replace manual \u201csearch engine submission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More than 25 years later, HTML sitemaps are less preferred. But can we really stop using HTML sitemaps, just like we dropped guest books or webrings?\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"HTML_vs_XML_sitemaps_%E2%80%93_the_visible_vs_the_invisible\"><\/span>HTML vs. XML sitemaps \u2013 the visible vs. the invisible<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To make it short and simple, the main difference between HTML and XML sitemaps is that an HTML sitemap is usually visible to website visitors while an XML sitemap is not. (The latter primarily made for search engines.)<\/p>\n<p>The XML sitemaps standard was introduced at the end of 2007 by search engines like <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/crawling-indexing\/sitemaps\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/help.yahoo.com\/kb\/SLN2217.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yahoo<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/webmasters\/help\/sitemaps-3b5cf6ed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bing<\/a> (then MSN).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By default, they are formatted in a way that does not display well or is readable for humans. Instead, such sitemaps are used mainly to ensure proper and faster indexing by search engines.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, just because a resource is on an XML sitemap does not mean Google and Bing will index it, or it will be findable even if it\u2019s in the index.<\/p>\n<p>Another SEO colleague Rob Watts added a tongue-in-cheek, first-hand account to the debate <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@Robwatts@seocommunity.social\/109478118728743688\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">by saying<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had sites do well for years that were absent of html or xml sitemaps. I removed my tin foil hat and began using xml sitemaps and enjoyed seeing how long it took for urls to appear in serps. I don\u2019t think I saw any noticeable improvement performance wise for their use, but it made some analyses\/reports slightly easier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So with XML sitemaps only theoretically ensuring crawling and indexing, do we have to focus on them and neglect visible or <a href=\"https:\/\/xd.adobe.com\/ideas\/process\/information-architecture\/visual-sitemap-examples-website-designs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">visual sitemaps<\/a>?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<div class=\"nl-inline-form border py-2 px-1 my-2\">\n<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 col-xl-4 pe-md-0 pb-2 pb-lg-0\">\n<p class=\"inline-form-text text-center mb-0\">Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-7 col-xl-6  pe-lg-0\">\n<div class=\"form-nl-inline\">\n<div class=\"row g-0\">\n<div class=\"form-group col-12 col-lg-8 mb-0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-4 col-xl-4 mb-0\">\n<div class=\"d-none\">\n<p>Processing\u2026Please wait.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"btn btn-dark inlineButton w-100 rounded-0 font-weight-bold\">SUBSCRIBE<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-2 col-xl-2 ps-1\">\n<p class=\"text-center mb-0\"><a class=\"nl-terms\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/termsofuse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">See terms.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_should_we_create_sitemaps_solely_for_Google\"><\/span>Why should we create sitemaps solely for Google?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Over the years, Google spokespeople told us to create websites for users, not search engines. Why make an exception when it comes to sitemaps and only create them for Google and other search engines?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It makes me wonder whether other SEO tactics that display one thing for search bots and something different for website visitors may also be a good idea.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, Google said so, so we must listen, right? Not really.<\/p>\n<p>There must be a reason why Google dislikes HTML sitemaps and prefers XML.<\/p>\n<p>XML sitemaps are usually automated and include all the content published as soon as it&#8217;s online.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On WordPress, numerous tools create sitemaps for you. <a href=\"https:\/\/yoast.com\/help\/xml-sitemaps-in-the-wordpress-seo-plugin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yoast SEO<\/a> also covers you, for example, even the basic free version.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, WordPress finally <a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/core\/2020\/07\/22\/new-xml-sitemaps-functionality-in-wordpress-5-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">added<\/a> XML sitemap support to its core, so you won&#8217;t even need external plugins.<\/p>\n<p>The XML code format is also machine-readable, while HTML is messy. HTML has to work despite errors, while XML breaks when you forget a character.<\/p>\n<p>So at the end of the day, the XML sitemap creation works mostly behind the scenes without error-prone human hands interfering.<\/p>\n<p>Also, most people will never see your XML sitemap, they wouldn&#8217;t even know where to find it as it&#8217;s not linked anywhere visibly on the site.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Making_XML_sitemaps_work_for_people\"><\/span>Making XML sitemaps work for people<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Luckily, there is always some middle ground. You don&#8217;t have to make XML sitemaps invisible.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You can format XML sitemaps with stylesheets just like you do with any HTML pages.<\/p>\n<p>This technique has been working <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/Style\/styling-XML.en.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">as long as XML has been around<\/a>. There are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oreilly.com\/library\/view\/xml-hacks\/0596007116\/ch01s04.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tutorials<\/a> out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/docs\/en\/radfws\/9.7?topic=file-lesson-14-create-edit-xsl-style-sheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">there<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/styling-xml-docs-with-css-3471383\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">help you<\/a> with that.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed for a while, it seemed that XML would replace HTML as the web standard, or it was a compromise called XHTML.<\/p>\n<p>For compatibility reasons, that didn&#8217;t happen. Even though the XHTML format was cleaner and less error-prone. When an error happened, the website did break.<\/p>\n<p>With HTML5 introduced instead, browsers embraced sloppily coded websites to make publishing easier but at the expense of automatic crawling.<\/p>\n<p>Now you have ideally created an XML sitemap that can be read by people without coding skills. Remember that it&#8217;s still a bland list of all the content you have.<\/p>\n<p>You may still consider creating a readable HTML sitemap for your website visitors.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_to_use_visual_or_HTML_sitemaps\"><\/span>When to use visual or HTML sitemaps<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s not either\/or.\u00a0You can:<\/p>\n<p>Decide to separate both visible and invisible sitemaps instead of making your XML sitemap visible to people.<\/p>\n<p>Create both visible (HTML) and invisible (XML) sitemaps on your site for different reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Have more than one HTML or XML sitemap.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It depends on what your site looks like and what your objectives are.<\/p>\n<p>Use these questions as a guide to making a decision:<\/p>\n<p>Do you want to create a quick overview page of your site? Use an HTML sitemap!<\/p>\n<p>Do you want to get indexed as soon and as deeply as possible? Create an XML sitemap.<\/p>\n<p>That said, there are edge cases, and many websites do not conform to typical standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here are example use cases for visual or HTML sitemaps.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Legacy_andor_hard-coded_sites\"><\/span>Legacy and\/or hard-coded sites<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Believe it or not, there are still legacy sites from decades ago on the web, and even hard-coded<strong> <\/strong>sites made manually in HTML, CSS and\/or JavaScript.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, you&#8217;ve probably used one quite often.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Amazon.com is almost the same site it was many years ago. It has been continuously <a href=\"https:\/\/envylabs.com\/insights\/refresh-or-user-interface-redesign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">refreshed over the years<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.pint.com\/redesign-vs-continuous-improvement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">improved<\/a> to this day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An all-out redesign would have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/capabilities\/people-and-organizational-performance\/our-insights\/the-secrets-of-successful-organizational-redesigns-mckinsey-global-survey-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">too risky and disruptive<\/a> for the bottom line.<\/p>\n<p>Some basic legacy sites may have difficulty creating an XML sitemap on the fly. So it&#8217;s not a problem when they have a hard-coded HTML sitemap instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Do you have to remove it because Google says so? Of course not.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Large_sites\"><\/span>Large sites<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When Mueller said that you needed proper site navigation, he was generally right. But it does not always apply to larger sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You can&#8217;t possibly fit a highly complex site with thousands of pages into a menu without it quickly spiraling out of control.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For better findability, it&#8217;s useful for both humans and search bots to have sitemaps that reflect the overall site structure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You don&#8217;t have to list every page, as that would make it too large.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Alternative_to_mega_menus\"><\/span>Alternative to mega menus<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Many sites attempt to fit as much as possible into their site navigation and end up having so-called <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/mega-menus-seo-228827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mega menus<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You hover your mouse over the navigation, and the menu suddenly covers the whole site.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Users get quickly overwhelmed visually with dozens of options to select from.<\/p>\n<p>Also, sometimes, if a user is not fast enough to point at the right menu item, it will disappear when they lose the level one menu.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mega menus are tempting, especially with large companies where every stakeholder wants to be on top.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But they are often a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2021\/05\/frustrating-design-patterns-mega-dropdown-hover-menus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user experience nightmare<\/a>, as Smashing Magazine founder Vitaly Friedman clearly demonstrates.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sites_without_internal_search\"><\/span>Sites without internal search<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When doing web outreach, you might notice that many sites make it quite hard to contact them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Such is often the case with sites having no internal search feature. You will often struggle to locate their contact page.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A search feature would be a logical solution, yet surprisingly some sites do not have one, even those run on WordPress, which has built-in functionality.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some themes or website owners simply remove the search input.<\/p>\n<p>When I can&#8217;t find a standard page in your menu and there is no search feature available,a visual sitemap would be nice.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Orphan_pages\"><\/span>Orphan pages<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When you manage to create a menu that is usable without becoming so huge that it does not fit some screens anymore, you will often end up with orphan pages.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Orphan pages are webpages that are not linked internally from the menu structure or inside the content.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This happens when content gets removed and updated, and some links disappear.<\/p>\n<p>Oftentimes, orphan pages should be removed altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Others still make sense but might not be as significant to place into the main menu or the footer links.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Such orphan pages would be fine when linked in a visible, readable sitemap so that people looking for them can find and access them.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Faster_indexing\"><\/span>Faster indexing\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Let&#8217;s be honest! Just because a page or other resource (think <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/crawling-indexing\/sitemaps\/image-sitemaps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">image<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/crawling-indexing\/sitemaps\/video-sitemaps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video<\/a>) is listed on an XML sitemap does not mean Google will index it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Your site may not have enough authority to get all its content into the Google index.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This was quite a common issue for new sites in the past. Especially with newly created sites and Google having more limited computing power, some content did not make it into the index on purpose.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s less of an issue now, but you still may want to link content internally to boost your chances of getting indexing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Link to the more important content on top, prominently, and\/or more often.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Better_link_equity\"><\/span>Better link equity<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When we talk about authority, we refer to the link equity that some SEOs still call &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/link-juice-seo-389706\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">link juice<\/a>.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An HTML sitemap that shows some links on top and others at the bottom regulates link equity flow to some extent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Pages linked on top are expected to have and receive more authority than pages at the bottom.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With XML sitemaps, there is no such hierarchy, as far as I know. All resources listed on it are just that, items in a list.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The item on top is merely the latest one, not necessarily the most important one or the one needing the highest authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There is no inherent hierarchy on XML sitemaps unless you code one into it by declaring that some resources are more important and, thus, should be <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/48620?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crawled more often than others<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A visible HTML sitemap allows you to link those resources on top that matter most and thus send more users and authority their way, just like in your site navigation. So it&#8217;s not &#8220;latest&#8221; on top but most important on top, ideally.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Usability\"><\/span>Usability<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>As we are talking SEO here, the most important aspect of sitemaps, improving usability, comes at the end.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is Search Engine Land and not UX Collective, after all. They advocate <a href=\"https:\/\/uxdesign.cc\/how-to-create-a-ux-sitemap-a-simple-guideline-8786c16f85c1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">creating an (internal) UX sitemap<\/a> for every website project, at least while establishing the information architecture.<\/p>\n<p>HTML sitemaps improve the <a href=\"https:\/\/xd.adobe.com\/ideas\/principles\/web-design\/what-makes-good-ux\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">overall user experience<\/a>, especially:<\/p>\n<p>Accessibility.<\/p>\n<p>Discoverability.<\/p>\n<p>Findability.<\/p>\n<p>Usability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These are still the strongest use cases for HTML sitemaps, just like in the \u201890s, way before Google started using links for indexing and ranking and long before XML sitemaps were introduced.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Older users (I admit I&#8217;m among them) may even prefer clear and page-style sitemaps instead of shaky menus that vanish when you don&#8217;t touch them or search features showing irrelevant items.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some elderly people cannot use mouse-over and mouse-click actions efficiently.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>People with disabilities, particularly the visually impaired, need as few mouse actions as possible. Thus, a one-page overview might be best for them.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Useful_sitemap_examples_in_the_wild\"><\/span>Useful sitemap examples in the wild<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_New_York_Times\"><\/span>The New York Times\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I often use the New York Times as an example because almost everybody knows the publication, and it&#8217;s such an authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This time I want to show the NYT as an example simply because they managed to do something right and stand out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The NYT uses visible HTML sitemaps in a way that is really helpful for readers, search users and search engine bots alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The NYT has several sitemaps <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7018559921558364160\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">highlighted<\/a> by fellow SEO <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/author\/chris-long\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Long<\/a> of Go Fish Digital on LinkedIn. It is a prime example of using sitemaps to benefit a website.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;60 Second SEO: The New York Times has one of the best HTML sitemaps I&#8217;ve seen. Here&#8217;s an example of how an article from 1912 is only 5 steps away from [their] home page:&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t want to go too much into detail here, as Long has done an excellent job already at it.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Applecom\"><\/span>Apple.com<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Another great example of sitemap usage for a large site is Apple.com. Their plain and simple text sitemap is useful for people and search engines.<\/p>\n<p>However, note how much the sitemap differs from the actual top navigation the Apple site has above the content.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Apple sitemap&#8221; starts with &#8220;About Apple&#8221; (not linked) and the following links:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<p>The site navigation starts with the shop and specific products in contrast:<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, the SEO team decided to make the shop and products more visible to website visitors and search bots. At the same time, the true structure or importance of the pages seems to be completely different.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the huge Apple sitemap gives users a good overview of the site contents without overloading the page despite more than a hundred links.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, they have another sitemap in the footer reflecting the top menu structure instead of the standalone &#8220;sitemap&#8221; on the dedicated page.<\/p>\n<p>It is smaller both by the font size and by the number of links listed but still very useful.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<p>So no matter where you end up, you always have a site navigation or sitemap to help you.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An &#8220;everything is easy to find&#8221; user experience is central to the Apple website design.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/html-sitemaps-seo-ux-when-how-394763\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">When and how to use HTML sitemaps for SEO and UX<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Search Engine Land<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google search advocate John Mueller has always downplayed the value of HTML sitemaps. Recently, he reiterated his dissatisfaction with HTML sitemaps, saying:\u00a0 \u201cI changed my mind on HTML sitemaps over the years, they should never be needed. Sites small [and] large should always have a clear navigational structure.\u201d This is a slightly stronger stance than what he\u2019s expressed in the past: \u201cWhen it comes to SEO \u2026 for small sites, your site should be crawlable anyway (and if you\u2019re using a common CMS, it\u2019ll almost always [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-seo-blogs"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}