ENGLISH
REFERENCE

site map

compound.
B2 Upper Intermediate Web Development
Definition

compound. a list or a special page that shows all the different sections of a website. It helps visitors and search engines find their way around the site easily.

compound. a model of a website's content designed to help both users and search engines navigate the site. It can be a visible page for visitors or an XML file used by search crawlers to index pages efficiently.


SIMPLE

I checked the site map to find the contact page.

CONTEXTUAL

The developer updated the site map to ensure that the new blog posts would be indexed by Google immediately.

COMPLEX

A well-structured site map not only improves the user experience by clarifying the site's hierarchy but also serves a critical role in search engine optimization by exposing deep-linked content.

Origin

A compound formed from the noun site, an aphetic form of the Anglo-French visite, and map, derived from the Latin mappa, meaning a cloth or napkin.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Usage

Often written as two words ('site map') or one word ('sitemap').

Last updated July 22, 2026