Google’s John Mueller and Martin Splitt just gave an old SEO workhorse a fresh job description. On a recent Search Off The Record episode, they explained that HTML sitemaps are not obsolete—but they are not a substitute for XML sitemaps either.
Two tools, one confusing name
Before XML sitemaps became the crawl submission standard, site owners used HTML sitemaps to help search engines discover pages and distribute internal link equity. The page was often a long list of links, typically linked from the homepage or footer.
The shift happened for a reason. In 2004, researchers documented that RSS feeds could help crawlers spot new pages and cut crawling bandwidth by up to 40%. But RSS was not universally implemented. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft eventually aligned on one XML sitemap standard, which remains the structured submission path today.
Mueller says the confusion comes from the shared “sitemap” label. An XML sitemap has a strict structure that Google can process directly after submission. An HTML sitemap is different.
It’s basically a collection of links.
That collection still matters, but for a different reason. Crawlers can follow those links like any other internal link. What they cannot do is treat the HTML page as a structured sitemap file.
What Google actually recommends
Mueller’s advice is to think of an HTML sitemap as a navigation aid, not a crawl dump. His example: an ecommerce site should not list every product on one HTML sitemap. Instead, list the top-level categories so visitors can get to the right place and then drill down to individual products.
This is essentially a hub-and-spoke model. The HTML sitemap becomes a clean table of contents that points to category or topic hubs. Those hubs then pass users—and crawlers—to the deeper pages.
Build it for users first
The SEO case follows the user case. If the page genuinely helps people move through your site, Google can pick up the navigational signals and follow the link paths. A giant list of every URL probably helps no one.
If you build one, keep it focused:
- Link it from the footer or main navigation.
- Organize it by category or topic, not by every URL.
- Use clear anchor text and keep the links crawlable.
- Keep your XML sitemap as the submission file.
The takeaway for SEO teams
HTML sitemaps won’t unlock hidden rankings on their own. But they remain a useful part of site architecture when designed for humans. Pair a user-friendly HTML sitemap with a properly submitted XML sitemap and you cover both navigation and structured crawl discovery.
Treat the HTML sitemap as a product of your information architecture: if you can’t organize it cleanly, the site structure may need work.
Source: Search Engine Journal
