{"id":3675,"date":"2019-08-07T08:14:26","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T08:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/?p=3675"},"modified":"2022-09-05T19:24:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T17:24:03","slug":"what-is-a-sitemap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/seo-blog\/what-is-a-sitemap\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a sitemap?"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_3-1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-image align_center\"><div class=\"w-image-h\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"414\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1096032467-e1565165592109.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"DSM Digital school of marketing - sitemap\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1096032467-e1565165592109.jpg 620w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1096032467-e1565165592109-600x401.jpg 600w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1096032467-e1565165592109-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>As you know by now, there are quite a few ways you can increase traffic to your website. One of the most effective tactics that you can employ to increase <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/what-does-the-term-organic-search-mean\/\">organic<\/a> traffic is to create a sitemap. However, if you don&#8217;t have much experience with web development, you may not even know what a sitemap is.<\/p>\n<h2>Putting together a sitemap<\/h2>\n<p>The term &#8216;sitemap&#8217; is defined as a list of all your site&#8217;s URLs. The sitemap includes some information about these <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/what-is-a-bad-link-and-how-does-it-affect-your-websites-health\/\">links<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The goal of a sitemap is to help search engines understand and index your website&#8217;s content. The marvellous news is that you don&#8217;t need any special coding knowledge to create a sitemap. There are hundreds of programs on the Internet that will help you to generate a sitemap.<\/p>\n<p>However, this is the general process that someone putting together a sitemap will follow:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Step 1: Analyse the structure of your website pages<\/li>\n<li>Step 2: Give codes to your URLs<\/li>\n<li>Step 3: Verify the code<\/li>\n<li>Step 4: Put your sitemap into the root and robots.txt<\/li>\n<li>Step 5: Submit your sitemap<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sitemaps are tools that help the search engine crawlers understand your website. In addition, a sitemap helps them to find what needs to be found.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Vimeo video player\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/286507896?autoplay=0&loop=0&autopause=0&color=00adef&portrait=0&byline=1&title=1&controls=1&muted=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>Sitemaps are files that your website visitors will never see as these are marked for the search engines only. They list every page on your site and is a valuable tool for anyone looking to grow their organic traffic.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Other benefits of using sitemaps<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>As a sitemap is a list of all the pages on your site, it ensures that the search engine bots are able to find and explore exactly what you want them to<\/li>\n<li>A sitemap also includes metadata about each page. This data tells the search engine bots how your pages are organised and how they relate to each other.<\/li>\n<li>Sitemaps help users navigate your site as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It might be interesting to note that you don&#8217;t technically need a sitemap because search engine bots will eventually find your website and index it on their own. However, just because they can find your site, it doesn&#8217;t mean they will find everything you want it to know. So if you have a small website or a slightly large one, a sitemap will boost your organic traffic.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/contact-us\/\">Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>As the online world becomes more crowded by every single day, so the need to optimise your website becomes more important. <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\">Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Web Analytics<\/a> is not a luxury. It&#8217;s an absolute necessity &#8211; if you want your website to be found by your customers. The Digital School of Marketing&#8217;s SEO and Web Analytics Course will teach you what it takes for your website to reach the number one spot on search engine results pages (SERPs). If you have a passion for digital marketing, statistics and technical knowledge of websites, then this course is for you!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-758 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSM_Footer03-600x96.jpg\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing SEO and Web Analytics course registration\" width=\"600\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-btn-wrapper align_justify\"><a class=\"w-btn us-btn-style_2\" href=\"#enquiry\"><span class=\"w-btn-label\">Enquire Today<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Blog Categories<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/blog\/content-marketing\/\">Content Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/digital-marketing\/\">Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/cyber-security-blog\/\">Cyber Security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/graphic-design-blog\/\">Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/blog\/public-relations\/\">Public Relations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/blog\/seo\/\">SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/social-media-marketing\/\">Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/web-design-blog\/\">Web Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">You might also like<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"w-html\"><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/social-media-marketing-blog\/zero-moment-of-truth-benefit-social-media-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Use the Zero Moment of Truth to Benefit your Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/your-complete-guide-to-ppc-marketing-basic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Your Complete Guide to PPC Marketing Basics. 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