XML Sitemap

XML sitemap or just sitemap is a document file in an XML format which helps search crawlers find indexed pages on the site. The values of the XML sitemap entries can be configured inside the Sitemap section in the Umbraco Backoffice on every page. Sitemap content node is created at the root of the website and is available on either /sitemap_umbraco or /sitemap_umbraco.xml URL to view or download.

Configuring the XML sitemap page entries correctly is a good way to boost the SEO of the website and make sure that only the most relevant pages are shown to the users.

Content

Sitemap section has four content parameters:

• Remove From Xml Sitemap - removes the page entry from the XML sitemap.
• Remove Child Pages From Xml Sitemap - removes all the child page entries from the XML sitemap.
• Search Engine Change Frequency - sets the page change frequency in the XML sitemap.
• Search Engine Relative Priority - sets the page relative priority in the XML sitemap.

Remove From Xml Sitemap

Toggling this setting will remove the page entry from the XML sitemap. Useful setting for pages that shouldn't be indexed and shown on the web. This will have no effect if Remove Child Pages From Xml Sitemap setting is already active (toggled on) on the parent page.

Remove Child Pages From Xml Sitemap

Toggling this setting will remove all the child page entries from the XML sitemap. In other words, this won't add any pages to the XML sitemap that are below the page which is being modified.

Search Engine Change Frequency

Sets the page change frequency in the XML sitemap which indicates how often the page content changes. If left empty, the page will have Monthly value set on it's page entry in the XML sitemap. There are 4 values to choose from:

• Daily - the page is being updated every day. This would be pages that change very frequently - blog posts, winners feed, etc.
• Weekly - the page is being updated once or twice per week. Typically this would be promotions pages, less frequent blogs etc.
• Monthly (default) - the page is being updated once or twice per month. This would be game pages, help pages, FAQs, generic content pages, etc.
• Yearly - the page is being updated only once a year or less. Annually updated pages - contact page, about us page, login or registration pages, etc.

The change frequency value is ignored by Google but it should be set to help search crawlers determine the most important pages on the site and show only the most relevant pages to the users.

Search Engine Relative Priority

Sets the page relative priority in the XML sitemap which indicates the page importance on the website. By default, every page will have priority value of 0.5. When choosing page relative priority follow the guidelines on the page priority values:

• 1.0-0.8: High priority pages (welcome page, games and promotions pages)
• 0.7-0.4: Mid-range priority pages (blogs, articles, about us, community pages)
• 0.3-0.0: Low priority pages (FAQs, legacy pages)

The relative priority value is ignored by Google but it should be set to help search crawlers determine the most important pages on the site and show only the most relevant pages to the users.