Planning what information to include in a website and how it should be put together is an essential part of web designing. This is what a sitemap is developed for. It provides clear guidance of the structure and content of a website allowing you to organize the pages and navigation through menus. With it, site visitors can navigate the website with ease. To get started with your sitemap project, we provided some easy and editable sitemap examples you can use right away for visualizing your website.
Web Design: SiteMap Templates and Examples
Sitemap Types
There are different sitemap formats to use when building a website. For webmasters, XML and HTML are two of the most important sitemaps that make up a website. Search engines require these sitemaps to find content pages and they aid in understanding the site’s content for online users. Moreover, these markups are used jointly with different purposes and processes of creation. To further know about these two sitemaps, you may refer to a brief introduction of these two markups.
- XML format
XML is designed for search engines and usually, an XML sitemap example consists of the XML declaration, URL set, and the parent URL. This sitemap is also responsible for organizing the pages of a website in a way that is acceptable for the consumption of search engines.
- HTML format
HTML sitemap consists of pages and sections within a website through hyperlinks. Usually, you will see this on the homepage of the website which is listed in a hierarchy. Another useful benefit of HTML is it informs the users about the links they are about to click. Therefore, it is easier for them to understand the site’s content.
What Should a Sitemap Include?
The main purpose of creating a sitemap template is for a better information architecture of a website. This talks about the taxonomy or the way how information is arranged according to their relevance by categorizing them. These are usually represented with blocks and lines to illustrate the sitemap but you can also use sitemap generators so you can save time from creating sitemaps manually. Now here are the key attributes to create complete visual website sitemap examples:
Homepage – a homepage is the place of a website where everyone is directed the first time an online user visits the site. Also, it is the root element located at the top of the visual sitemap.
Items – a sitemap example will not be complete without the items. Each item in a sitemap describes a section or page on a website. It would be great practice to make a numbering reference for each page and a clear label to make it easy to understand for the webmaster.
5 Editable Visual Sitemap Examples
In this part, we will show you samples of sitemap provided by GitMind which you can use in different cases. Check them out.
1. Website Design Sitemap
This is a simple sitemap example you can employ on any type of website. It consists of Homepage at the top level, and basic sections including “Product”, “Support”, “About us”, “Blog”, and “Members.” The section may vary according to the service or product your website offers.
2. Online Store Sitemap
Online shop web design is among the best sitemap examples you may use to build a site for your products or services. By doing so, you will increase the online presence of your service which is the trend and it’s easier to reach more customers. You may start with 3 sections including products, online shop, and about us.
3. Video Editing Solution Sitemap
Another sitemap template focused on promoting software products is the video editing solutions sitemap. This showcases 4 main sections including company, solution, pricing, and help. Under solution contains another set of sub-sections to help you promote your products further.
4. Library Management System
Library management system is also one of the best website sitemap examples to create. There are multiple top-level categories and pages under each category. The sitemap includes four categories but you can update the sitemap depending on the function or feature you want to add.
5. Online Travel Booking Sitemap
In this sitemap example, we have a breakdown of services offered on the website of online travel booking. It comes with five categories “Manage Account”, “Customer Service”, “Book a Trip”, and “Destination.” This will improve the navigation of the visitor and book a trip with ease.
Conclusion
From simple to complex illustrations, sitemaps can fit every project web designing needs. Moreover, consider your audience or target customer to know the best approach to take. You can get started with these best sitemap examples and enhance them according to the goal of your website.
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