Google: HTML Sitemaps Not Worthwhile For SEO Purposes

Oct 2, 2019 - 8:32 am 9 by

Google Html Sitemap

Google's John Mueller posted on Reddit that he agrees, that HTML sitemaps are not worthwhile for SEO purposes. He said "I agree. When it comes to SEO ... for small sites, your site should be crawlable anyway (and if you're using a common CMS, it'll almost always be fine) & for large sites, they're not going to be useful anyway (use sitemaps, use normal cross-linking, check with a crawler of your choice)."

For users, that is another thing he said. He wrote "Do they make sense for users? I guess it's a good signal that your normal navigation & in-site search are bad if people end up going to your HTML sitemap pages :)."

Old school SEOs forever have said HTML sitemaps is an important part for SEO.

But the truth is, if Google cannot crawl your small web site through your normal navigation, then you got bigger issues. And most sites provide XML sitemaps for search engines. But as you can see from John above, large or small sites, it seems HTML sitemaps don't really give you a value add for SEO or ranking purposes.

In 2016, John did downplay the importance of HTML sitemaps but in 2009 Matt Cutts said HTML sitemaps come first. Times have changed?

Forum discussion at Reddit.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More - YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 18, 2024

Mar 18, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Google Updates

Google Urges Patience As The March 2024 Core Update Continues To Rollout

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google

Official: Google Replaces Perspective Filter With Forums Filter

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Now Offers Additional Review After Appeal Is Denied

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

EU Searchers Complaining About Google Maps Features Changes Related To DMA

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:21 am
Google

Google Showing Fewer Sitelinks Within Search

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google Featured Snippet Image Carousel To Show More Results