Although it is usually the website administrators and developers who have an in-depth knowledge of sitemaps, XMLs, HTMLs and other technical terms used in site maintenance, having a basic knowledge of these terms would help if you have a website of your own.
Whether it is a personal blog or a business website that you have, learning about the basics of these terms would help in maximizing its growth and earning potential.
What Exactly are XML & HTML Sitemaps?
Here, we will focus on two of the most common technical terms used in websites that not a lot of people are aware of, but usually encounter: XML and HTML. The acronyms stand for Extensible Markup Language and Hyper Text Markup Language.
Basically, a sitemap is a list of pages within a website which is easily accessible to search engine crawlers or online users. Sitemaps take the form of documents or web pages. What they do is make it easier for both the search engines and online users to find pages on the site itself.
Let's say that your website has ten web pages and an online user would like to know about your company history. Instead of manually going through each individual web page, a sitemap will make it easier for the user to find the information that they are looking for.
Now, take a look at the two types of sitemaps which are available:
1. HTML Sitemaps
This type of sitemap is used to sort of organize the different sections and pages of your blog or website through hyperlinks. They are typically listed in order of hierarchy, and usually include a description of each link.
2. XML Sitemaps
On the other hand, XML sitemaps organize the sections of a webpage through URLs using a special format. If HTML sitemaps are understandable by humans, XML sitemaps are 'understood' by search engines.
One of the most common tasks of a website administrator is to submit an XML sitemap to search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing which just goes to show how useful a knowledge of XML sitemaps would be. Not only would it allow your website to be indexed quickly, but it also increases the ranking of your website when a particular keyword related to your site is searched for in these sites.
Differences, Benefits & Everything Else that You Need to Know about XML & HTML Sitemaps
Simply put, the difference between XML and HTML is that XML follows a standard format - so you can use the sitemaps for several search engines including Google, Yahoo and MSN. As for HTML sitemaps, since they include URLs or links to internal pages, there is actually no one standard that webmasters follow.
The good thing about using an HTML sitemap is that it gives your website visitors an easier time to search for specific content on your site. Similarly, an HTML sitemap allows your web pages to get indexed by the search engines. It also helps up the ranking of your site on the search engine, depending on how the HTML sitemap is created.
What about the benefits of an XML sitemap? This type of sitemap is more useful if your website has dynamic content, if your web pages aren't easily discovered by search engines, and if your site has a large archive of content web pages which are not linked with each other.
No matter which of these two types of sitemaps you decide to use on your website, the good news is that you can make the task easier with the help of XML or HTML sitemap generators. Go online and look for a tool that will allow you to automatically generate the specific sitemap type that you need.
At the end of the day, the success of your website lies in the number of return visitors that you will get - and making it easier for both online users and search engines to look for the information that they need through sitemaps is a step in the right direction.
One of the tools you can use is the HTML Sitemap Generator which makes it incredibly easy to create your own HTML sitemap.
Whether it is a personal blog or a business website that you have, learning about the basics of these terms would help in maximizing its growth and earning potential.
What Exactly are XML & HTML Sitemaps?
Here, we will focus on two of the most common technical terms used in websites that not a lot of people are aware of, but usually encounter: XML and HTML. The acronyms stand for Extensible Markup Language and Hyper Text Markup Language.
Basically, a sitemap is a list of pages within a website which is easily accessible to search engine crawlers or online users. Sitemaps take the form of documents or web pages. What they do is make it easier for both the search engines and online users to find pages on the site itself.
Let's say that your website has ten web pages and an online user would like to know about your company history. Instead of manually going through each individual web page, a sitemap will make it easier for the user to find the information that they are looking for.
Now, take a look at the two types of sitemaps which are available:
1. HTML Sitemaps
This type of sitemap is used to sort of organize the different sections and pages of your blog or website through hyperlinks. They are typically listed in order of hierarchy, and usually include a description of each link.
2. XML Sitemaps
On the other hand, XML sitemaps organize the sections of a webpage through URLs using a special format. If HTML sitemaps are understandable by humans, XML sitemaps are 'understood' by search engines.
One of the most common tasks of a website administrator is to submit an XML sitemap to search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing which just goes to show how useful a knowledge of XML sitemaps would be. Not only would it allow your website to be indexed quickly, but it also increases the ranking of your website when a particular keyword related to your site is searched for in these sites.
Differences, Benefits & Everything Else that You Need to Know about XML & HTML Sitemaps
Simply put, the difference between XML and HTML is that XML follows a standard format - so you can use the sitemaps for several search engines including Google, Yahoo and MSN. As for HTML sitemaps, since they include URLs or links to internal pages, there is actually no one standard that webmasters follow.
The good thing about using an HTML sitemap is that it gives your website visitors an easier time to search for specific content on your site. Similarly, an HTML sitemap allows your web pages to get indexed by the search engines. It also helps up the ranking of your site on the search engine, depending on how the HTML sitemap is created.
What about the benefits of an XML sitemap? This type of sitemap is more useful if your website has dynamic content, if your web pages aren't easily discovered by search engines, and if your site has a large archive of content web pages which are not linked with each other.
No matter which of these two types of sitemaps you decide to use on your website, the good news is that you can make the task easier with the help of XML or HTML sitemap generators. Go online and look for a tool that will allow you to automatically generate the specific sitemap type that you need.
At the end of the day, the success of your website lies in the number of return visitors that you will get - and making it easier for both online users and search engines to look for the information that they need through sitemaps is a step in the right direction.
One of the tools you can use is the HTML Sitemap Generator which makes it incredibly easy to create your own HTML sitemap.
Author : Ryan Whiteside
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