# What is an XML sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists a website's important pages so search engines can find and crawl them more efficiently, though Google says listing a page doesn't guarantee it will be indexed.

- Canonical URL: https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/xml-sitemap
- Topic: [Glossary](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary)
- Format: Glossary
- Publisher: Mover Marketing AI, reviewed by Nicholas DiMoro

## Learning objectives

After reading this article you will be able to:

- Define an XML sitemap
- Submit a sitemap to Google

## What is an XML sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists the pages a website wants search engines to know about. Google describes a sitemap as "a file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them." It says search engines read it "to crawl your site more efficiently."

A basic entry looks like this:

```xml
<url>
  <loc>https://www.example.com/local-moving</loc>
</url>
```

## Does a sitemap get pages indexed?

Not by itself. Google says a sitemap "helps search engines discover URLs on your site, but it doesn't guarantee that all the items in your sitemap will be crawled and indexed." Submitting one "is merely a hint."

Google also ignores some optional fields: "Google ignores `<priority>` and `<changefreq>` values."

## How do you submit a sitemap?

Two common ways, according to Google:

1. **Search Console**: submit it in the Sitemaps report, which shows when Google read it and any errors. See [what is Google Search Console](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/google-search-console).
2. **robots.txt**: add a line such as `Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml`. See [what is robots.txt](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/robots-txt).

## Does a moving company need one?

Most website platforms create one automatically. Google says a site with "about 500 pages or fewer" that's well linked may not need one, but that "in most cases, your site will benefit from having a sitemap." A sitemap should list only the final, indexable version of each page. See [what is a canonical tag](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/canonical-tag).

## FAQs

### How do I submit an XML sitemap to Google?

Submit it in the Sitemaps report in Google Search Console, or add a Sitemap line with its full URL to the site's robots.txt file.

### Is sitemap.xml still relevant?

Google says most sites benefit from one, and that sitemaps matter most for large sites, new sites with few links, and sites with a lot of video or image content.

## Related articles

- [What is robots.txt?](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/robots-txt)
- [What is Google Search Console?](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/google-search-console)
- [What is a canonical tag?](https://movermarketing.ai/learn/glossary/canonical-tag)

## Sources

- [Google Search Central: Learn about sitemaps](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview)
- [Google Search Central: Build and submit a sitemap](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap)