Build better websites and apps
Create a beautiful website with the help of a sitemap template to visually outline and plan the ideal structure.
A sitemap is a visual representation of your website. Sitemaps are particularly helpful for teams developing a website, as they outline each page on the website and the relation webpages have to one another.
Sitemaps are organized with blocks and arrows that show connections between content and webpages. This helps to visually communicate a website’s content needs and the framework required for website development.
Building a website is a team effort. From marketers to developers to product managers, the architecture of a website relies heavily on insight from different professionals to effectively reach the customer and create a clean customer experience.
Marketers provide sitemaps with insight from customer reports, personas, and behavior. In turn, this information translates to a smooth customer journey throughout the website. Product managers give an understanding of the product and the link within operations to deliver tips and tricks that optimize the website experience for the user.
Sitemaps are a great tool precisely because they help each stakeholder visualize the overall website ecosystem — and keep everyone on the same page.
Sitemaps follow a similar structure to flowcharts. Each block represents a webpage, with arrows that show connections between one webpage and another and show the hierarchy of content between pages.
To create a sitemap for your website, follow these steps:
Step 1: List all the content and webpages you need on your website.
Step 2: Create categories by uniting the web pages that have the most in common. Once the categories have been defined, organize them by website hierarchy of information. A website hierarchy represents the order of arrangement of pages on a website. The aim is for the user to find their desired page with ease and logic through a series of menus and tabs.
Step 3: Connect the web pages with arrows. These arrows are helpful in organizing blocks by common relevance. The arrows direct the flow of information and the user journey.
MURAL’s sitemap template board offers easy-to-use features to outline, connect, and personalize website sitemaps. Use the dynamic drag-and-drop elements to include and inspire your team in the website development ideation.
Create your sitemap with images and icons to represent the different elements of website development. The sitemap template allows users to choose between predefined icons or upload their own to customize the visual key.
Tailor sticky notes and blocks to help organize and visualize the sitemap. MURAL’s sitemap template lets you decide whether something is worth a note, a sticky note, an icon, or an image!
Editing has never been this quick and easy. With MURAL’s sitemap template, you can select a group of objects to edit. Simply filter and choose the adjustments you'd like to make, updating the size, color, or switch type.
Yes. The MURAL sitemap template offers an outline of your website, which is a useful resource for the early stages of website creation. However, there are also HTML and XML sitemaps. On the one hand, HTML sitemaps are Href-created links that have a hierarchical structure. On the other hand, XML sitemaps are text files that identify website data.
Yes, sitemaps can help with organizing a site using SEO best practices. By having a clear hierarchy of information and website structure, developers are able to create websites that follow the best link-building and HTML-defining practices that contribute to healthy SEO.
You can create a sitemap for two different scenarios: website creation and website redesign. For both cases, a visual sitemap should be organized and defined before any development is put into action. This ensures everyone is on the same page and understands the goals of the website.