HTML Sitemaps

When you start to make your website, it may seem easy to access the pages from a single dropdown menu. However, as you add more pages and the additions get more complicated, you could end up with a page that does not get linked from anywhere, and you need to have a list of each link for your site so that you can keep track of each page. That is what an HTML sitemap will do. It is a giant blueprint of your site.

XML sitemaps get written to help search engines make sense of what your site is saying, while the HTML sitemap is for the users. If someone goes to your site and clicks on the sitemap, they are probably looking for a specific page that does not get listed on your easy access links on the landing page. Even though XML sitemaps are great for developing HTML sitemaps, it also helps SEO while providing a table of contents for your customers.

Making an HTML sitemap is not hard, but it does help with organization. When someone creates an organized system of pages that people can access easily, your website becomes more user-friendly. A sitemap lets you see the big picture of your website and how you can improve it.

HTML Sitemaps Impact Your SEO

Just keep in mind that search engines will be crawling sites all the time and exploring the content of your website, and then categorizing it so that it can show people relevant information. When you have a strong HTML sitemap, crawlers will understand then categorize your site easier and faster. When a crawler knows how to categorize your site, then you are increasing your visibility.

Internal linking is a big thing for SEO, and it helps to maximize the time that a person spends on your site by clicking through your pages. Using an HTML sitemap links these pages together, increasing internal linking for SEO, which creates an interconnected site. It also makes it easy to navigate your site, which is a big thing in SEO.

HTML Sitemaps and User Experience

When you have an HTML sitemap on your site, it is not just for the search engines. Your visitors on your site find this helpful when they see your site's organization through a sitemap. It also helps to reduce their frustration when they are looking for something specific.

When you have a sitemap, you can meet customers' needs more directly if they are unable to find something. A clear sitemap allows you to check for missing things on your site and ensure that they get added, which helps people find what they are looking for. When you add information to your HTML sitemap, it will be much easier to find, and all the effort of creating it will not need to get duplicated because it would be confusing and mess up your webpages.

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