XML Sitemaps Or RSS/Atom Feeds? Google Says Use Both For Optimal Crawling

When it comes to telling search engines about the content on a website, webmasters might be wondering if they should submit sitemaps or just setup RSS or Atom feeds.

Google’s answer? Use both.

In a new blog post sharing advice on XML sitemaps and RSS/Atom feeds, Google says it’s not an either/or question.

For optimal crawling, we recommend using both XML sitemaps and RSS/Atom feeds. XML sitemaps will give Google information about all of the pages on your site. RSS/Atom feeds will provide all updates on your site, helping Google to keep your content fresher in its index. Note that submitting sitemaps or feeds does not guarantee the indexing of those URLs.

The post goes on to list a handful of best practices covering areas including URLs, last modification time, how often XML sitemaps should be updated and more. If you’re a webmaster or SEO consultant, it’s recommended reading: Best practices for XML sitemaps & RSS/Atom feeds.