Let’s be real, SEO can feel like a never-ending maze. One minute you’re confidently tweaking meta tags, the next you’re staring blankly at your sitemap.xml, wondering if those priority tags even matter. Well, grab a cup of coffee (or something stronger) because we’re about to tackle this head-on.
What Are Priority Tags, Anyway?
Priority tags are numerical values (ranging from 0.0 to 1.0) that you can assign to each URL in your sitemap.xml file. Think of them like little flags you can place on each page, signaling to search engines which ones you consider most important.
The idea behind priority tags is simple: a page with a higher priority tag (e.g., 0.8) should, in theory, be crawled and indexed more frequently than a page with a lower priority tag (e.g., 0.3). This seems like a handy tool, right? You could prioritize your most valuable pages, like your homepage or top-selling products, ensuring they get the attention they deserve.
The Intended Purpose: A Helpful Hint (Or a Wasted Whisper?)
In a perfect world, priority tags would act as a helpful hint to search engines, guiding them towards the pages you deem most important. They would be like a gentle nudge, saying, “Hey, search engine, check out this page first, it’s kind of a big deal.”
However, in the real world, things aren’t always so straightforward. Google, the dominant player in the search engine realm, has openly stated that they don’t consider priority tags when crawling or indexing your website. This means that, no matter how high you set the priority values, Google won’t necessarily crawl or rank your pages any differently.
Google also ignores another optional tag in sitemaps, the <changefreq> tag. This tag was intended to indicate how often a page’s content is likely to change (e.g., “daily,” “weekly,” “monthly”). However, like priority tags, Google doesn’t use this information when deciding how often to crawl a page.
What Do Priority Tags Look Like?
Before we dive deeper into the debate, let’s take a quick look at what priority tags actually look like within a sitemap.xml file. Here’s an example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://www.yourwebsite.com/blog/</loc> <!— The URL of the page -->
<lastmod>2024-06-20T10:30:00-05:00</lastmod> <!— Last modified date (important for Google!) -->
<priority>0.8</priority> <!— Priority (ignored by Google) -->
<changefreq>weekly</changefreq> <!— Change frequency (ignored by Google) -->
</url>
...
</urlset>
In this example, the <priority> tag is set to 0.8, indicating that this blog page is considered to be of high importance. The priority values range from 0.0 (lowest priority) to 1.0 (highest priority).
However, Google has explicitly stated that they ignore this tag, along with the <changefreq> tag (which indicates how frequently a page’s content is likely to change). This raises questions about the overall effectiveness of these tags for Google. In a 2015 Google hangout, John Mueller, a Search Advocate at Google, confirmed this, stating that priority tags “don’t really play that much of a role with sitemaps anymore.” You can watch the hangout here:
Google’s official documentation on sitemaps also explicitly states that they ignore <priority> and <changefreq> tags. This means that, according to Google, these tags have no impact on how they crawl or rank your pages.
The Importance of Accurate Timestamps
So, if Google doesn’t use priority tags, what do they use to determine which pages to crawl and index? The answer lies in the <lastmod> tag. This tag indicates the last time a page was modified, and Google pays close attention to it.
By keeping your sitemap.xml up-to-date with accurate <lastmod> tags, you signal to Google when your pages have been updated and need to be recrawled. This is far more effective than relying on priority tags to influence their behavior.
Are Priority Tags Useless?
Not necessarily. While their impact on Google might be negligible, priority tags could still offer some minor benefits, especially for larger websites with frequent content updates. They can help guide search engine crawlers and ensure that your most important pages get crawled first. However, it’s important to remember that they are not a magic solution for boosting your SEO.
To Tag or Not to Tag: Making an Informed Decision
So, should you spend your precious time meticulously assigning priority tags to every page on your site? Well, the answer isn’t as clear-cut as you might hope. It’s a bit like deciding whether to wear a belt with your jeans – sometimes it’s helpful, other times it’s just unnecessary.
When Priority Tags Could Be Helpful
For Websites with Many Pages
If your website has a large number of pages (think hundreds or even thousands), priority tags can serve as a helpful guide for search engine crawlers. They can point these digital explorers towards your most important pages, ensuring they get indexed quickly. This is especially beneficial for large e-commerce sites or news websites with constantly updating content.
If You’re Targeting Search Engines Other Than Google
While Google has explicitly stated that they don’t consider priority tags, other search engines like Bing might still use them to some extent. If a significant portion of your traffic comes from Bing or other search engines, using priority tags could potentially give you a slight edge.
When You Can Skip the Priority Tags
For Smaller Websites
If your website is relatively small, with only a handful of pages, the impact of priority tags will likely be minimal. In this case, your time and effort are better spent on other SEO strategies that have a more proven impact, such as creating high-quality content and building backlinks.
If Google is Your Main Focus
If the majority of your traffic comes from Google, there’s no need to worry about priority tags.
When in Doubt, Focus on the Fundamentals
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure about whether priority tags are worth your time, it’s always a safe bet to focus on the fundamentals of SEO. This includes creating high-quality content, building authoritative backlinks, and optimizing your website’s technical aspects. These strategies will have a much greater impact on your search rankings than fussing over priority tags.
Table Comparing Sitemap Tags
| Tag Name | Description | Google’s Usage | Other Search Engines |
|---|---|---|---|
<loc> | The URL of the page. Required | Yes | Yes |
<lastmod> | The date of the last modification of the page. (Recommended) | Yes | Yes |
<priority> | The priority of this URL relative to other URLs on your site. (0.0 to 1.0) | No | Varies |
<changefreq> | How frequently the page is likely to change (always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never). | No | Varies |
The Bottom Line: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (Unless It’s Your Timestamps)
Priority tags in your sitemap.xml aren’t the SEO silver bullet they might seem. While they could offer a minor advantage in specific situations, their impact pales in comparison to other, more critical SEO strategies.
So, instead of spending countless hours agonizing over whether to prioritize this page or that one, shift your focus to the fundamentals. Craft compelling content that resonates with your audience, build relationships with other websites to earn those valuable backlinks, and ensure your site is technically sound and a pleasure to navigate. And remember, keep those timestamps accurate! That’s one thing Google definitely pays attention to.
