A visitor arrives at an e-commerce site to find a product page they viewed the day before. The main menu offers eight categories, each with several subcategories. After three unsuccessful clicks, they leave the page. An HTML sitemap would have solved the problem in a single step: a complete view of the site structure, with a direct link to the right page.
HTML sitemap and XML sitemap: two tools with distinct purposes
The sitemap intended for visitors is often confused with the XML file intended for search engines. An XML sitemap is a technical document that lists URLs to help search engine crawlers explore a site. It does not replace internal linking and does nothing to improve the human browsing experience.
An HTML sitemap, on the other hand, is a page any user can browse. It presents the site structure as links organized into categories and subcategories. It’s a navigation shortcut, not a duplicate of the menu. To see what this type of page looks like in practice, the Journal Du Web sitemap is a good example of a site structure that’s easy to scan at a glance.
On a small site with a few dozen pages, an HTML sitemap may seem unnecessary. On a portal with several hundred pages, it becomes a safety net when the main menu is no longer enough.
Accessibility and RGAA: the sitemap as a practical requirement
The French General Accessibility Improvement Framework (RGAA) does more than require a sitemap. It checks that the sitemap accurately reflects the site’s overall structure, that its links work, and that their labels match the pages they point to.
The RGAA also requires sites to offer at least two navigation methods from among three options: a navigation menu, a sitemap, and an internal search engine. A site with only a main menu and no sitemap or search bar does not meet this requirement.
What this means for screen reader users
A screen reader user navigating a site page by page can spend a considerable amount of time trying to understand its overall structure. A sitemap gives them this overview on a single page, without having to tab through every interactive menu item.
As part of its 2026 accessibility action plan, ArianeGroup plans to improve its sitemap alongside fixes to heading structure, keyboard focus visibility, and link labels. This example shows that a sitemap is part of a broader accessibility effort, not a standalone feature.
Structuring an HTML sitemap that genuinely helps users navigate
A poorly designed sitemap can be just as confusing as an overloaded menu. The page needs to remain easy to read, which requires editorial choices.
Pages to include and pages to leave out
Include key structural pages and content that visitors actively look for. Leave out anything that offers no direct navigational value.
- Pages to include: home page, main sections, subsections, service or product pages, contact pages, and legal notices
- Pages to exclude: internal search results, redirect pages, form confirmation pages, and duplicate versions (URL parameters, pagination)
- Special case for blogs and news sites: list categories or tags rather than every individual article; otherwise, the page becomes an unreadable directory hundreds of lines long
Visual hierarchy and grouping
Readability depends on grouping content by level. The first level displays the main sections. The second level lists the subcategories. Beyond three levels of nesting, the page becomes less clear and users end up in the very situation it was meant to prevent.
Every sitemap link should have a clear label. A link labeled “Page 1” or “Learn more” tells neither users nor screen readers where it leads.
Automatically generating or manually building an HTML sitemap
On WordPress, plugins can automatically generate an HTML sitemap from the existing site structure. This approach works if the site is already well organized. Otherwise, the generated page faithfully reproduces the disorder.
Building a sitemap manually takes more time, but lets you filter out unnecessary pages, group content according to how users think rather than how the site is technically structured, and control the display order. On a site whose structure changes frequently, manual maintenance quickly becomes a burden, which is why most teams opt for a hybrid solution: automatic generation with certain categories or page types excluded.
The choice between the two depends on the number of pages and how often the site is updated. A 30-page brochure site is easy to manage manually. A product catalog updated every week needs automation.
Complementing the sitemap with other navigation aids
W3C recommendations emphasize one point: a sitemap should never be the only fallback option. Breadcrumbs, descriptive page titles, and an internal search engine work together as a coherent system.
- Breadcrumbs show users where they are in the site structure at all times, without leaving the current page
- An internal search engine helps when users know a specific term but don’t know which category it belongs to
- Descriptive page titles (title tags and H1 headings) help users of assistive technologies quickly identify the content of each page
On a very large site, a page listing every URL can even become counterproductive. In that case, well-linked category pages are a better alternative to an exhaustive sitemap. Internal linking remains the foundation of smooth navigation; the sitemap is simply a structured complement.
A well-designed sitemap won’t turn a poorly organized site into a model of usability. It makes an existing structure visible. If the site hierarchy is confusing, the priority is to simplify it before mapping it out.
