Having a sitemap may seem redundant at first, but a well-constructed sitemap can be a tremendous benefit to your readers, and your return traffic.

What is a sitemap?
A sitemap performs the same basic function that an outline performs for printed material. It gives the reader, or visitor, an overview of the pages contained within the rest of the site. Sitemaps for small websites can include every page the site has to offer, while maps of larger websites may only include the major categories and subcategories.

Navigation purposes
While your website’s navigation should already be optimized for easy use, a sitemap is beneficial for people who get lost and can’t find their way back to a particular page. Having the sitemap ensures that there’s a way for the reader to get where they’re going, which makes it more likely that they’ll spend more time at your site, instead of navigating away out of frustration.

Convey your site’s theme
When a visitor loads up your sitemap they can quickly get an overview of what your site has to offer without having to read through each page. Web surfers typically want information “right now” so any time you can save them is a bonus for you.

Site optimization purposes
Your sitemap typically exists on its own page, and contains links to every other page on your website. When search bots hit the sitemap page they’re able to index every page on your site by following the links. It can also help boost your ranking in the search engines if you’re using relevant keywords in the links on your sitemap. Also, remember to put a prominent link to your sitemap right on your front page to assist the search engines.

Organization and relevance
A sitemap also makes it easier for you to add content or new sections because you can look at an overview of your site’s structure and determine what changes you want to make. The end result is that you’ll have a perfectly organized site with everything according to its relevance.

There’s really no downside to having a sitemap, and if you have a particularly large website, it should be considered mandatory.