Making Sense of Site Maps
Here's the Lowdown: Site maps help search engines successfully crawl your website by making it easier to find all the site's pages and links. A site map is not required for a website, but it can help improve search engine optimization.
What is a site map?
A site map is a file that lists the URLs of a website. The file should also include meta data about each link including its importance to the site and the last time it was updated. A site map is used by search engines and crawlers to navigate the site and optimize visibility.
Where does a site map reside?
Your site map file should reside in the root, or top-level, directory of your Web server.
Can I exclude pages from my site map?
Yes, you can exclude specific pages of your website from your site map. On the Search Engine Visibility Sitemap page, select the page(s) you want to exclude and then, click Exclude Selected.
Creating your Site Map
Search Engine Visibility provides an easy-to-use option for creating your site map. From the Search Engine Visibility home page or the Optimize menu, select Sitemap to get started.
Use the checkboxes to specify which URLs to include or exclude from your site map, and then click Create Site Map.