XML sitemap vs. HTML sitemap

There have been various thoughts about sitemap for websites, some webmasters think its mandatory for a website to have a sitemap file while few have perception that they should use sitemap files only for search engines.We have two options to include sitemap for a website (1) HTML sitemap & (2) XML sitemap.

An XML sitemap is created for search engine spiders while helps them to index the pages of a website easily and thereby increasing the possibility of higher rankings over search engines while HTML sitemap helps not only crawlers to index webpages of a website but also helps users to identify all the sections of a website.An HTML sitemap enables users to browse the website as per their needs and thereby saving their time too.

From search engine point of view, both of these sitemaps are important for a website but if we talk about the priority,HTML sitemap stays first.As an html sitemap is built not only for search engines, but also for internet users, so it is always important to have an html sitemap.Websites with an HTML sitemap enables user to navigate the website very easily and in a lesser time.

Consider a situation where a user visiting a website of women apparels, she is looking for all kinds of women skirts but due to the complicated navigation of the website, she is not able to find the right webpage/section.Either she will end up with investing lots of time in browsing various irrelevant pages and then finding the approppriate section or she will simply leave the website.But presence of an HTML website will enable her to find the appropriate section within few seconds.

Why we think about only search engines all the time and use only XML sitemaps, we should consider real users too as the internet is meant for real users primarily,isn't it?

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