Creating a sitemap is a critical step in optimizing your site for search and enhancing user navigation. An HTML sitemap is a page on your website that lists all – or the most important – pages in a structured format, making it easier for visitors to navigate your site. While search engines primarily use XML sitemaps for crawling, an HTML sitemap focuses on improving the user experience by offering a clear pathway to the content. Creating an HTML sitemap is an essential step for enhancing your website’s usability, SEO, and accessibility.
Purpose of HTML sitemap
HTML sitemaps offer several benefits, both for users and search engines. Here are a few key reasons:
- Improves user navigation: Users can quickly find specific pages without relying solely on your site’s menu.
- Enhances SEO: An HTML sitemap provides search engines with another way to understand the structure of your website, improving the crawlability and indexing of pages.
- Accessibility: A well-organized HTML sitemap is also beneficial for those using screen readers or other assistive technologies.
- Prevents orphan pages: Sitemaps ensure that all pages are discoverable and easily reachable, avoiding any orphaned pages that may not get sufficient exposure.
Properties HTML sitemaps should have
To better serve it’s intended purposes, HTML sitremaps should have the following properties:
- Keep it simple: An overly complicated or cluttered sitemap defeats the purpose. Organize your sitemap in a logical, hierarchical structure that’s easy to scan.
- Limit the number of links: If your site has hundreds or thousands of pages, don’t include them all. Focus on the most important sections of your site.
- Make it readable: Avoid overly complex or dense formatting. A clean, readable design will make your sitemap much more effective.
- Ensure mobile-friendliness: Your sitemap should be responsive and easy to navigate on mobile devices. Most users now access websites via mobile, so ensure your sitemap caters to them.
- Relevance: In the map should be links only relevant to promote the page – no links to the dead or closed from the index pages.
- Structuredness: The map should accurately reflect the existing structure of your site and it should be designed in the same style as the entire site.
- Up-to-date: The map should be regularly updated automatically. This will keep the list of pages up to date.
General guidelines for creating an HTML sitemap
Here are the general guidelines for creating an HTML sitemap:
- It is necessary to list links to all pages that display the structure of the site by main sections, categories, subcategories. At the same time excluding the types of pages with a dominant number in the structure of the site (more than 90%). For example:
- Specific products pages
- Filter pages
- Posts
- Articles
- Pagination pages
- The map should be updated automatically on a regular basis. This will keep the list of pages up to date.
- If the site map includes more than 150 links, it can be implemented on a multi-page basis. This recommendation suits large sites with a complex structure.
- Links to pages should be arranged in a logical form and in accordance with the hierarchy of pages, ie: from sections to categories, from categories to subcategories. For example, check out our HTML sitemap.
- Relevant keywords should be used for link anchors – no transactional key phrases with the words “price”, “buy”, “order” and so on.
- Link to HTML map should be placed on all pages in the footer of the site. It can also be placed on a 404 page.
- The sitemap should only contain links with 200 server response codes.
Steps to create an HTML sitemap
Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating an HTML sitemap:
1. Plan your sitemap structure
Before diving into the coding, you need to plan the structure of your HTML sitemap. It should be logically organized and easy to read. Typically, this structure involves:
- Hierarchical layout: Group related pages under categories or sections. For example, in an eCommerce website, you might have categories like “Home”, “Products”, “Blog”, and “Contact”.
- Link only important pages: You don’t need to include every single page, especially if you have a massive site. Focus on key pages like primary categories, blogs, service pages, and important landing pages.
2. Write the HTML code for the sitemap
Once your structure is outlined, you can write the HTML code to create the sitemap. Below is an example of how to build a simple HTML sitemap.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>HTML Sitemap</title>
<style>
body {
font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
margin: 20px;
line-height: 1.6;
}
h1, h2 {
color: #333;
}
ul {
list-style-type: none;
padding-left: 0;
}
li {
margin: 5px 0;
}
a {
text-decoration: none;
color: #007BFF;
}
a:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Sitemap</h1>
<h2>Home</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="/">Home</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Products</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="/products/product1.html">Product 1</a></li>
<li><a href="/products/product2.html">Product 2</a></li>
<li><a href="/products/product3.html">Product 3</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Blog</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="/blog/post1.html">Blog Post 1</a></li>
<li><a href="/blog/post2.html">Blog Post 2</a></li>
<li><a href="/blog/post3.html">Blog Post 3</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Contact</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="/contact.html">Contact Us</a></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>Breakdown:
<ul>and<li>tags: These tags are used to create a list of links, providing the structure for your sitemap.- CSS styling: The simple CSS included makes the sitemap more readable and user-friendly. You can customize this further to match your website’s design.
3. Organize and categorize
For better usability, organize your links under appropriate headings (<h2>, <h3>, etc.). For example, separate product categories, blog posts, or service pages into their own sections. The goal is to make it intuitive for the user to find what they’re looking for.
4. Add internal links
Within the <ul> lists, include anchor tags (<a>) with the URLs of the pages you want to link to. Make sure each link is correct, as broken links can frustrate users and harm your SEO. Example:
<li><a href="/about-us.html">About Us</a></li>
<li><a href="/services.html">Services</a></li>5. Add the sitemap to your website
Once your HTML sitemap is ready, save the file (e.g., sitemap.html) and upload it to the root directory of your website or an appropriate location, such as /sitemap/. Ensure that it is linked from somewhere accessible, such as in the footer or in the site’s main navigation, to make it easy for users to find.
6. Submit your sitemap to search engines (optional)
Though search engines primarily rely on XML sitemaps for crawling, having an HTML sitemap can still help with indexing. Ensure your sitemap is discoverable by search engine bots by submitting it via Google Search Console and other webmaster tools.
Maintaining your HTML sitemap
A sitemap is only useful if it’s up-to-date. Regularly maintaining your HTML sitemap is critical, especially if you frequently add or remove pages.
a. Update with new content
Whenever new pages, blog posts, or services are added to your site, update the HTML sitemap to reflect these changes.
b. Remove dead links
Periodically check your HTML sitemap for any dead or outdated links. If a page is removed from your site, ensure its link is also removed from the sitemap.
c. Automate updates (optional)
If you run a large website, manually updating your HTML sitemap can be tedious. Using a CMS plugin or a sitemap generator tool can automate the process. For WordPress, plugins like Yoast SEO and Google XML Sitemaps can help in automatically generating both HTML and XML sitemaps.
Conclusion
An HTML sitemap is an indispensable tool for enhancing your website’s user experience and SEO. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a well-structured HTML sitemap that makes it easier for both users and search engines to navigate your site. Regularly updating and maintaining the sitemap ensures that it continues to serve its purpose effectively. By focusing on clear organization, accessibility, and simplicity, your HTML sitemap can significantly improve the way users interact with your site while also giving search engines another way to understand your content structure.
