A tutorial on XML sitemaps and the benefits of creating multiple XML Sitemaps for SEO.

1. ADVANCED SEO
THROUGH
MULTIPLE XML
SITEMAPS
BY LAURENT MÜLLENDER, 2016

2. According to Google , a (XML) sitemap is „a file where you can list the web pages of your
site to tell Google and other search engines about the organization of your site content.
Search engine web crawlers like Googlebot read this file to more intelligently crawl your site.
Also, your sitemap can provide valuable metadata associated with the pages you list in that
sitemap: Metadata is information about a webpage, such as when the page was last updated,
how often the page is changed, and the importance of the page relative to other URLs in the
site.“
You can have specific sitemaps for videos or pictures that also include meta data
(running time, topic, license,..) of your content.
It also helps the Googlebot index pages which are not easy to find like when no other
sites link to them or if you have a really large site. It helps avoid overlooking of pages
by the crawler.
Overall it supports indexing of your site and it‘s a way to tell Google more about your
site and content.
Note: A sitemap does not affect the actual ranking of your pages. However, it helps get
more of your site crawled and it is good practice to use them.
WHAT IS A SITEMAP?

3. A XML sitemap has the following structure:
For each URL you specify the location, the last modified date, the change frequency
and the priority you see for that URL compared to the other URLs of your site (does not
mean indexing or crawling priority!).
Please note that „priority” and “change frequency” doesn’t really play that much of a
role with Sitemaps for Google anymore.
What you should not include in a sitemap are pages that you do not want to have
indexed (check noindex status and your robots.txt file), pages that are redirected (301),
non existent (404) and those that have a canonical to another URL.
Full protocol here: http://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html
BASIC STRUCTURE OF A XML
SITEMAP

4. For various reasons you might want to have several sitemaps. You can place all
sitemaps in a single directory or sub-directory. Root directory is recommended. Each
sitemap needs to have separate and unique URLs. Example: The sitemap of a
subdirectory should only contain URLs of that subdirectory and none from the parent
directory.
For easier management, you can also reference your sitemaps in a sitemap index file
(sitemap_index.xml).
Advantage: you can submit them all at once by adding the Index file to your Google
Webmaster Tools account (Search console).
Notes: You can submit up to 500 sitemap index files for each site in your account. Index
files cannot contain other index files. You need to submit each index file separately.
Google has no preference with regards to single or multiple sitemap files.
MANAGEMENT OF MULTIPLE
SITEMAP FILES.

5. 1. Better management & organization
Generally speaking, multiple sitemaps will allow you to better organize and manage
your URL submissions, especially when grouped in one index sitemap file.
2. Large Sites
The maximum number of URLs per sitemap is limited to 50.000 and the maximum file
size is 10 Mb. So due to that constraint you might need to split your sitemap file in
multiple files.
3. Monitor Indexing and Errors
The Sitemaps Report within Google Webmaster Tools is a good source for finding
indexing errors and a better diagnostic tool then „site:“
Especially if you have a large site, you can identify errors easier when your sitemaps
are splitted.
-To see if link juice is passed properly, you can create sitemaps per navigation/site
depth.
-To see how certain site categories/sections or new pages are being indexed, create
separate sitemaps for those.
BENEFITS OF MULTIPLE
SITEMAPS

6. 4. Management of site sections
Suppose you have different stores or local versions under one URL. It would be handy
to organize those in different sitemap files.
http://www.example.com/section_1_sitemap.xml
http://www.example.com/section_2_sitemap.xml
http://www.example.com/section_3_sitemap.xml
5. Different content updates and priorities
For management and optimization reasons, you might want to separate URLs based on
update frequency and priority.
Examples:
-Create a sitemap for rather static content URLs (less time-sensitive) and a sitemap for
content URLs that change frequently like offers or auctions.
-Create a sitemap for top performer product pages .
BENEFITS OF MULTIPLE
SITEMAPS

7. 6. Different content types
This is not about several sitemaps of the same type, but several types of sitemaps that
you can generate.
Google lets you create different types of sitemaps for different types of content:
Mobile / Feature phone
News
Video
Images
Each sitemap has its own syntax and rules (e.g. you must first register with Google
News before the News Sitemap is processed)
Note: You do not need to split the sitemaps, even for different content types. Actually,
Google accepts a single sitemap file with different content types. It depends on your
particular situation if you prefer to split or not.
BENEFITS OF MULTIPLE
SITEMAPS

8. 6. Different content types
Here‘s an example of an image sitemap. Using this you can increase your search
engine reach by increasing your chances of being properly indexed in Google image
search, tell Google more about your content and index pictures that would normally not
be accessible by Google (e.g. embedded via Javascript).
Every URL can contain up to 1.000 image tags. You can also add meta information such
as caption, geo location, title and image license.
BENEFITS OF MULTIPLE
SITEMAPS

9. AUTHOR
Laurent Müllender
Performance-driven product management and
online marketing
www.muellender.biz
Laurent.muellender@gmail.com

10. AUTHOR
Laurent Müllender
Performance-driven product management and
online marketing
www.muellender.biz
Laurent.muellender@gmail.com