XML — Sitemap

Basic Sitemap

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
    <url>
        <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
        <lastmod>2025-01-01</lastmod>
        <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
        <priority>1.0</priority>
    </url>
    <url>
        <loc>https://example.com/about</loc>
        <lastmod>2025-01-01</lastmod>
        <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
        <priority>0.8</priority>
    </url>
</urlset>

Sitemap Elements

Element	Description
loc	URL location
lastmod	Last modification date
changefreq	How often it changes
priority	Importance (0.0 to 1.0)

Image Sitemap

<url>
    <loc>https://example.com/gallery</loc>
    <image:image>
        <image:loc>https://example.com/img1.jpg</image:loc>
        <image:title>Photo 1</image:title>
    </image:image>
</url>

Video Sitemap

<url>
    <loc>https://example.com/video</loc>
    <video:video>
        <video:thumbnail_loc>https://example.com/thumb.jpg</video:thumbnail_loc>
        <video:title>My Video</video:title>
    </video:video>
</url>

Sitemap Index

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
    <sitemap>
        <loc>https://example.com/sitemap1.xml</loc>
        <lastmod>2025-01-01</lastmod>
    </sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

Mini Practice

1. Create a basic sitemap
2. Add lastmod and priority
3. Create a sitemap index
4. Validate the sitemap

Up Next

Continue with File Structure — organizing XML files.