An example using one of our most successful sites for SEO. See https://jbrcapital.com/sitemap/ and https://jbrcapital.com/sitemap_index.xml. We explain why they are useful for both humans and Google.

1. Sitemaps

2. What is a sitemap & why it is important
• In the most layman terms Sitemap is quite literally a MAP (or a blueprint if you
wish) of all the pages on your WEBSITE
• There are a number of different types of sitemaps you will encounter in web
development, and we will go through each type in detail.
• As a general overview, sitemaps aremade up of all the individual URLs (pages)
that live under your site’s domain and helps visitors, but more importantly Google,
understand and navigate your website quickly.
• Through a well constructed sitemap you can make sure none of your key pages
get missed out. If Google has a clear guide to all your individual pages it will crawl
your site more effectively.

3. Learn by example… case study
• To help you better understand the
concept and application of
sitemaps we will use example from
one of our most successful SEO
projects.
• JBR Capital is a luxury car finance
provider
• Behind the site is 1000s+ unique
pages from targeted PPC to
keyword rich marque and model
pages
• See jbrcapital.com

4. Sitemap as a web dev tool

5. Build a sitemap before you build a website
• The first instance you will probably come across sitemaps in web development is
in the very initial stages of website design and development.
• Let’s call this type the flowchart sitemap – this will become clear on the next page.
• Drawing a well thought-out site map before you begin designing or building your
new website allows you to clearly structure it, get a solid overall idea of the
website’s scope and the pages you will need to build.
• It is much less complex than the sitemap you will create once the website is build,
it does not need to be as detailed, and serves as a guide for your web designer
and web developer.
• On the next page we will look at an example of this type of sitemap.

6. Let’s learn by example… flowchart sitemaps
• Here is our first example – a
basic flow chart sitemap created
to help in the website
development process.
• While later you will see how
complex and large the XML and
HTML sitemap of this website is,
for now take a look at how the
flowchart sitemap might have
looked before the website was
even build.

7. Sitemap for better UX

8. Build a sitemap for the human user
• The second type of sitemap comes into play once your website, and all your pages
are build and live.
• We are talking about a HTML sitemap.
• It is a lists and links directly to of all the pages which a on that website, logically
ordered and clearly displayed for a human user to read, use as reference for your
site or to help them navigate it.
• This is especially useful for large or complex website as it can significantly improve
the user experience, which is in turn rewarded by google.
• But of course you do not need to manually write and link all your pages, there is
many tools and plug ins available to automatically generate and keep your html
sitemap up to date.

9. Let’s learn by example… HTML sitemaps
• Let’s have a look at JBR
Capital’s HTML sitemap.
• As you can see it has now
become much more complex
than the flowchart one, as it
represents all of the actual
indexed pages, instead of just
structure concept
• See full sitemap at
jbrcapital.com/sitemap/

10. HTML sitemaps do’s and don’t
• Do use a dynamic sitemap if
you can, either through plug in
or custom script, to keep your
sitemap up to date
• Do link to your sitemap in the
footer, it will make it easy for the
user to find.
• Don’t generate a static sitemap
for large/often updated website,
it will become outdated very
quickly.
• Don’t include noindex and
hidden pages

11. Sitemap for SEO

12. Build a sitemap for Google
• The third and final type of sitemap we will talk about is the one you submit to
google.
• The XML sitemap
• It is similar to a HTML sitemap, but instead for human user it is created for
google/robots to read and understand your website.
• It often includes further details (meta data) such as frequency of updates, date of
last update, page importance.
• Through submitting this sitemap to google you can help in the process of indexing
your site, as well as clearly show which pages on your site are the most important.

13. Let’s learn by example… XML sitemaps
• Let’s have a look at JBR
Capital’s XML sitemap.
• Building upon complexity yet
again you can clearly see the
level of detail required for an
XML sitemap
• In JBR’s example we are even
using multiple XML sitemaps
• See full sitemap at
jbrcapital.com/sitemap_index.xml

14. XML sitemaps do’s and don’t
• Do use a good 3rd party XML
sitemap generator such as
Yoast SEO for Wordpress
• Do check and validate your
sitemap through google search
console
• Do submit your validated XML
sitemap to Google
• Don’t use a static sitemap
generator
• Don’t include noindex, hidden,
utility, canonicalised, paginated
or duplicate pages
• Do use the sitemap to see how
the site is structured

15. Key site structure
Top Level Pages
Classic Car Finance - https://jbrcapital.com/classic-car-finance/
Prestige Car Finance - https://jbrcapital.com/prestige-car-finance/
Supercar - https://jbrcapital.com/supercar-finance/
Sports Car - https://jbrcapital.com/sports-car-finance/
Top Marques
McLaren - https://jbrcapital.com/mclaren-finance/
Lamborghini - https://jbrcapital.com/lamborghini-finance/
Farrari - https://jbrcapital.com/ferrari-finance/
Aston Martin - https://jbrcapital.com/aston-martin-finance/
Bugatti - https://jbrcapital.com/bugatti-finance/
Jaguar - https://jbrcapital.com/jaguar-finance/
Koenigsegg - https://jbrcapital.com/koenigsegg-finance/
Lotus - https://jbrcapital.com/lotus-finance/
Mercedes Benz - https://jbrcapital.com/mercedes-benz-finance/
Pagani - https://jbrcapital.com/pagani-finance/
Porsche - https://jbrcapital.com/porsche-finance/
Alfa Romeo - https://jbrcapital.com/alfa-romeo-finance/
Audi - https://jbrcapital.com/audi-finance/
Bentley - https://jbrcapital.com/bentley-finance/
BMW - https://jbrcapital.com/bmw-finance/
Ford - https://jbrcapital.com/ford-finance/
Range Rover - https://jbrcapital.com/range-rover-finance/
Maserati - https://jbrcapital.com/maserati-finance/
Nissan - https://jbrcapital.com/nissan-finance/
Rolls Royce - https://jbrcapital.com/rolls-royce-finance/
Tesla - https://jbrcapital.com/tesla-finance/

16. Let’s get practical?
Pop in or give us a call
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Winchcombe House,
Winchcombe St,
Cheltenham, GL52 2NA
Practically.io