Every Shopify store comes with a sitemap. Most merchants don’t realize there are two kinds — and that the one Shopify doesn’t give you is the one your shoppers can actually use.
If you’ve ever wanted a single page listing every product, collection, blog post, and page in your store, this is for you.
What is an HTML sitemap?
An HTML sitemap is a single page on your website that lists links to all your other pages, organized into groups. On a Shopify store, that means every product, collection, blog post, and page — laid out as a readable directory that both shoppers and search engines can follow.
It’s a normal page, like your About or Contact page. You’d link to it from your footer, and it might look something like this:
- Collections — Summer Sale, New Arrivals, Bestsellers, Clearance
- Products — every item in your catalogue, listed by name
- Blog posts — your full archive, not just the recent ones
- Pages — About, Contact, Shipping, Returns, FAQ
Think of it as a table of contents for your shop.
But doesn’t Shopify already give me a sitemap?
Yes — and this is exactly where the confusion starts.
Shopify automatically generates an XML sitemap for every store at yourstore.com/sitemap.xml. It’s a machine-readable file built purely for search engine crawlers. Open it as a human and you’ll see a wall of code, not a helpful list.
So you do already have a sitemap. It just isn’t the one your shoppers can use. Shopify does not create an HTML sitemap page for you — that part is on you.
| XML sitemap | HTML sitemap | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Search engine crawlers | Shoppers and crawlers |
| Lives at | /sitemap.xml | A real page on your store |
| Looks like | Raw code | A browsable list of links |
| Creates internal links | No | Yes |
| Shopify gives you one | Yes, automatically | No |
The HTML sitemap is the one your customers can actually open, read, and click through. It’s also the only one of the two that adds real links to your site — and those links are what help search engines reach pages they’d otherwise struggle to find.
What an HTML sitemap actually does for your store
Stronger internal linking, better discovery
This is the part most merchants get wrong. Google is explicit in its own documentation: a sitemap file helps Google learn about your site, but it does not guarantee indexing and does not improve your rankings. Google’s John Mueller has said the same — sitemaps don’t guarantee everything gets recrawled, and there’s no set timeline.
So if products are sitting in “Discovered — currently not indexed,” resubmitting your XML sitemap for the fifth time isn’t the fix.
Internal links are. Search engines prioritise pages based on how they’re linked, and a page with no links pointing to it reads as an afterthought. An HTML sitemap gives every product, collection, post, and page at least one crawlable link from a real page on your domain.
Buried pages stop being invisible
Retired collections. Campaign landing pages. Blog posts that dropped off the “recent” module. Products only reachable through a filtered menu.
Every store has them, and none of them are linked from anywhere. An HTML sitemap catches all of them in one pass.
Easier browsing for shoppers
Some visitors want to see everything immediately rather than clicking through dropdowns. A sitemap page works like a store directory at a mall — the thing you reach for when search fails and the menu is overwhelming. Fewer dead ends mean fewer exits.
A more inclusive storefront
A clearly organized list of links is genuinely useful for people navigating with a keyboard or a screen reader. Instead of tabbing through nested dropdown menus, they get one simple, predictable page that reaches any part of your store.
Good structure benefits everyone. This is one of the easier steps toward a storefront that works for all your customers, not just the ones using a mouse.
The catch: building one by hand doesn’t last
You can create an HTML sitemap manually. Here’s what that involves:
- Open /sitemap.xml and every nested sitemap under it
- Copy out each product, collection, blog, and page URL
- Paste and format them into a new page
- Repeat every time you add anything
Step four is where every manual sitemap dies. A store adding ten products a week has a stale sitemap within a month.
How Sitemap Explorer works
Sitemap Explorer turns your existing sitemap into a clean HTML sitemap page — no code, no theme edits.
Fetch. The app pulls the publicly available sitemap URLs straight from your store domain.
Review. You see every link laid out clearly, sorted by products, collections, blogs, and pages.
Create. One action builds a styled sitemap page and adds it inside your Shopify admin, alongside your other pages.
Refresh. Added new products or posts? One click and the new links are in.
Most merchants are done in under five minutes.
Why merchants say yes to it
- It’s free. No subscription to weigh up.
- It’s lightweight. Built to stay out of the way and not slow your store down.
- It’s privacy focused. No customer personal data is collected or processed — it only works with publicly available sitemap URLs.
- It lives in your admin. Everything happens inside Shopify; in a workflow you already know.
- It’s built by EcomBack, a team focused on making stores more usable and accessible for everyone.
Who gets the most from it
- Large catalogues where products sit three or four clicks deep
- Content-heavy stores with blog archives drifting out of internal linking range
- Stores that publish often and can’t maintain a manual list
- Anyone running an SEO audit who needs one view of every public URL
A realistic note on what to expect
An HTML sitemap is a foundation, not a growth hack. It won’t outrank a competitor with better product pages, and it won’t rescue thin content.
What it does is make sure nothing you’ve published is invisible — to search engines, to shoppers, or to someone using a screen reader. That’s a low-effort, low-risk box to tick that most stores simply never get around to.
Give your store a clear map
Sitemap Explorer is free on the Shopify App Store. Install it, generate your sitemap page, and see how many URLs your store has. A lot of merchants are surprised.
Add Sitemap Explorer from the Shopify App Store
Frequently asked questions
What is an HTML sitemap?
An HTML sitemap is a single page on your website that lists links to all your other pages, grouped by type. On a Shopify store that means your products, collections, blog posts, and pages, laid out as a readable directory for both shoppers and search engines.
Does Shopify already have a sitemap?
Yes. Shopify automatically generates an XML sitemap at /sitemap.xml for search engines. It does not create an HTML sitemap page for shoppers.
Will an HTML sitemap improve my rankings?
Not directly. It improves discovery and internal linking, which helps search engines find and prioritise your pages. Rankings still depend on content quality, relevance, and authority.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. Sitemap Explorer works entirely from your Shopify admin — no theme files, no Liquid.
How does an HTML sitemap help accessibility?
It gives keyboard and screen reader users a single, predictable page of links to every section of your store, instead of requiring them to navigate nested dropdown menus.
How often should I update the sitemap page?
Whenever you add a batch of new products, collections, or posts. It’s a single click.
Does the app collect customer data?
No. Sitemap Explorer doesn’t collect or process customer personal data.
Where should I link the sitemap page from?
Your footer is the standard spot. It makes the page reachable from every page on your store, which is what makes the internal links count.
