What is an XML sitemap?
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XML sitemap: A file, usually sitemap.xml, that lists a site's pages and when each last changed, so search engines can find and crawl them.
The sitemaps.org protocol allows up to 50,000 URLs or 50 MB per file and says lastmod is the date the page changed, not the date the sitemap was made. Google says a small, well-linked site may not need one, but it helps new pages get found.
List only canonical URLs, and pair the sitemap with IndexNow for engines that support it.
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