XML is the most widely supported and recommended format for sitemaps, as it allows search engines to easily parse and understand the content structure, helping with better indexing and crawling of the site.
A sitemap with complete links helps search engines like Google find every page on your website. This makes it easier for people to discover your content in search results. It also helps search engines understand your site’s structure, which can improve how well your site ranks and gets noticed online.
A valid robots.txt file helps search engines understand which pages or sections of the website should not be crawled, preventing the waste of crawl budget and avoiding indexing of sensitive or unnecessary content.
The robots policy allows access to browsers and scrapers.
Allowing access to browsers and scrapers ensures that search engines can crawl the site effectively and index relevant content. This promotes better SEO, as search engines can gather and display up-to-date information from the site.
Pointing to a sitemap file in the robots.txt file helps search engines discover the sitemap easily, improving crawl efficiency. This ensures that all important URLs are included in the search engine’s index and enhances visibility in search results.
Using preferred page URLs (canonical URLs) helps to consolidate multiple versions of the same content under a single preferred version. This reduces the risk of duplicate content penalties and ensures that search engines index the correct page, improving SEO and page ranking.