Which is better: sitemap.xml or sitemap.html..?

Started by Novel Web Solution, 11-21-2016, 02:03:30

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pablohunt2812

Site maps are very important for your homepage SEO. Once you are done creating your site map, it is recommended that you submit it to Google webmasters tool so that Google can crawl your sitemaps. However, people often get confused when it comes time to decide which type of site map is better to use. Well it all depends on your website's purpose. One of the main differences between the two is in how Google crawls the website.

The Rundown
The simplest explanation is that XML is primarily for the search engines while HTML is written for the users.

A XML sitemap protocol is specifically intended for search engine spiders. At its root, XML is a file that includes all the behind the scenes activity on a web site. Not just the site's main URL, but all the URLs within the site along with the associated metadata. This can include when the URL was last updated, how important it is, the average frequency changes occur, the URLs relation to the rest of the site, etc.

HTML is just a general overview of the site, just the pages and info a user needs to be concerned with. If you're on a web site and you're looking for the shopping cart or the 'Contact Us' page and can't find it, you'd go to the sitemap and easily find it there. While this is geared towards the user, it can also help your search engine ranking because your site is user-friendly and catering to the site visitor.

Why Use One Over The Other?
Even if you are just getting started in the world of web design, you might have heard about HTML before. For many years HTML was the only type of coding you could use to create web pages. You might have heard terms like ASP, JSP Java Script or CSS, but these and others are essentially just add ons to HTML. Every web page at its heart was made with HTML. But by late 1999 up on to late 2001 the world wide web consortium, which is the governing body of the Internet, decided to discontinue using HTML and replace it XHTML and XML.

XHTML which stands for Extensible Hyper Text Mark up Language is almost identical to HTML. The most apparent difference with HTML and XHTML is the syntax of both languages. The end goal of XHTML is to be compatible with different devices and browsers, so the code is written with stricter rules. As a result, XHTML ends up looking like a more mature version of HTML.

When you think about the major differences between XML versus HTML sitemaps, it basically it means that the person writing the program or code gets to decide what the tags means. With HTML you were not afforded this luxury. People usually get the two types mixed up, but XML sitemaps are not linked to from the official website, but usually on the domain it would say example.com/sitemap.xml. As I said before, the XML site maps are primarily used for the search engines. It really helps to augment the crawling and indexing of a website. Now if your website is crawl-able and index-able then you won't have to worry as much about search engines finding all of your good pages or all of your important pages. But the XML sitemaps really help search engines crawl through your site in a much more efficient way, it alerts search engines to your presence and makes sure you are getting all of your important pages represented.


GloryNail

It seems odd.
I usually hear about sitemap.xml, never heard sitemap.html.
So, I think .xml is better than .html (if existed)
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hrishivardhan

As per google guidelines both are very important. but sitemap.xml is the must to have because that's the place where google bots lands and get all the url at once and crawl rate will be stable. but sitemap.html is as needed for the user interface. so they can easily find all the urls at one place. 
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anneroberts

Get ready two sitemaps: one for clients (HTML), one for web indexes (XML). Since the two sitemaps' fill diverse needs it is not important any longer to pick which is better.

A sitemap is a rundown of the pages on a specific site. By making and sending this rundown, you can tell Google of all pages on a site, including any URLs that may have been undetected by Google's general slithering procedure.

A HTML site guide can help clients effectively discover content that they are searching for. A HTML sitemap is a basic page on your webpage that shows the structure of your site, and more often than not comprises of a progressive posting of the pages on your website. Guests may visit this page on the off chance that they are having issues discovering pages on your site. While web indexes will likewise visit this page, getting great creep scope of the pages on your webpage, it's for the most part went for human guests.

A XML Sitemap can web crawlers discover pages on your webpage. A XML Sitemap record, which you can submit through Google's Webmaster Tools, makes it less demanding for Google to find the pages on your website. Utilizing a Sitemap record is likewise one way (however not ensured) to tell Google which adaptation of a URL you'd incline toward as the authoritative one
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damponting44

The choice between sitemap.xml and sitemap.html depends on the purpose of the sitemap.
- If you want to provide search engines with an organized list of pages on your site and the metadata for each page, then sitemap.xml is the better option. This format is specifically designed for search engines to crawl and index the content of your website more efficiently.
- On the other hand, if you want to create a user-friendly sitemap for your visitors to navigate through your website, then sitemap.html would be more suitable. This format provides a visual representation of the website's structure and can help users easily find the content they are looking for.

we can delve deeper into the technical aspects of sitemap.xml and sitemap.html.

Sitemap.xml:
- This file is written in XML format and is specifically intended for search engines. It provides information about the pages, images, videos, and other files on your site, as well as their relationships to each other.
- The use of sitemap.xml helps search engine crawlers to understand the structure of your site and index it more effectively, leading to potential improvements in search engine rankings.

Sitemap.html:
- Sitemap.html, on the other hand, is designed for human users. It is an HTML page that lists all the accessible pages on a website, typically organized in a hierarchical fashion.
- Unlike sitemap.xml, which is primarily for search engine crawlers, sitemap.html is created to enhance user experience and facilitate navigation for visitors exploring the website.

In summary, sitemap.xml is optimized for search engines, while sitemap.html is tailored to improve the user experience on the website. Both formats serve different purposes and can be beneficial depending on the specific objectives of the website owner.