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The creation and submission of a site map for your website can be a valuable SEO resource. However, there are many times when a site map is less beneficial or essentially unnecessary. So, at what point will you want to make a site map, and how can you do so?

What is a Site Map

A site map is simply an XML or HTML page which contains the locations and names of all of the pages present on your website. This is beneficial because it allows search engine robots to get to every page quickly, rather than relying on going from link to link within your site.

What Sites Need It

The bigger the site is, the more valuable a site map is. If the site is divided into different sections, with some pages lacking links on the home page, then a site map is very valuable. Even with high quality navigation, any larger site will want to create a site map. A good guideline is this: if you have more than fifty pages, you will definitely want a site map.

If your site is relatively small and contains links to all the relevant pages from the home page navigation, a site map isn’t strictly necessary. However, you can still get some degree of benefit out of one.

How to Make It and Submit It

While you can use the official guides provided by Google on how to make a site map, there are simpler options. A number of high quality generators can be found which automatically create a fully coded site map for you. You can then go through the generated list and double check that it includes all of the needed pages. If your site is especially large, you may need to invest in a paid site map generator. However, if you have fewer than a two hundred pages, you should be able to use a free version.