Skip to content
weballin

weballin DIGIWIKI

HTML Sitemap

An HTML sitemap is a page listing site documents that users can view in their browser. Unlike an XML sitemap, it consists of actual a href links and helps resolve deep pages or orphan pages that are difficult to navigate.

weballin

HTML sitemaps are different from XML sitemaps. An XML sitemap is a file for search engines, and an HTML sitemap is a page that allows both users and search engines to follow links.

If your site structure is complex and there is no HTML sitemap or hub page, old documents and deep pages can become isolated. Simply listing links may not be enough, so classification is important.

Link important categories and key documents with actual a href links. On sites with many documents, such as wikis or glossaries, the overall index and category hub can partially serve as an HTML sitemap.

Key takeaways

  • This is a list of site documents that users can view.
  • Its role is different from that of an XML sitemap.
  • Helps reduce orphan pages.
  • Actual links and clear anchor text are important.

References

Frequently asked questions

Should I create both an HTML sitemap and an XML sitemap?

The roles are different. An XML sitemap is a submitted file that informs search engines of URLs, and an HTML sitemap is a page that users and search engines navigate by following links. Both are good to have on large content sites, but an HTML sitemap is not necessary if the internal linking structure is well established.

Which sites don't need an HTML sitemap?

An HTML sitemap is not essential for a small site where menus and internal links provide easy access to all major pages. On the other hand, in wikis, blogs, and e-commerce with hundreds of documents or more, HTML sitemaps that serve as hub pages or indexes for each category complement the internal link structure.

Related terms