Phase 2 · Design

Sitemap Explained

The sitemap is often the trickiest part of the project to wrap your head around — but it's also one of the most important. Here's a plain-English guide to what it is, how to read it, and what feedback to give.

💡 Our team has built sitemaps for over 80 libraries. You're in good hands.
What it is

A hierarchical diagram of all the pages your new website will have — organized by structure. Think of it as the floor plan of your site. It shows which pages belong under which sections, not how they'll look.

What it is not

It is not your navigation menu — the menu is a design decision made later. It is also not an XML sitemap submitted to search engines. Those are different things entirely.

Example sitemap

Each box is a page. Lines show which pages belong under which parent. Here's what a typical library sitemap looks like.

🏠 Home
About
Our Library
Staff
History
Services
Catalog
Digital Resources
Research Help
Programs
Adults
Teens
Children
Research
Databases
Ask a Librarian
Contact
Hours & Location
Contact Form
Root (Home)
Parent pages
Child pages

This is a simplified example. Your library's sitemap will be tailored to your goals and existing content.

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Remember: the sitemap is a map of pages, not a design. "About" being on the left doesn't mean it's the first menu item. The order and naming of your navigation gets decided during the design and build phases.

What feedback to give

Focus your feedback on three areas. Everything else gets addressed in later phases.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the purpose of the sitemap? +
Think of the sitemap as the floor plan of your site. It helps us determine what core content to include and how to structure it so patrons can find things easily. Many older library sites have accumulated pages that are outdated, duplicated, or rarely visited — the sitemap is our opportunity to clean house and build something that's genuinely easy to navigate and maintain.
How did you decide what goes in our sitemap? +
We built it using your analytics (which pages get the most traffic), your intake questionnaire (your goals), and the pain points you raised in the Kick-Off. For example: if your goal is fewer clicks to reach the catalog, your sitemap will reflect that with a shorter path. If you flagged duplicate content as a problem, we'll have trimmed it down.
What do the boxes and lines mean? +
Each box is a page. A box directly connected below another is a "child page" — it lives under its "parent." If there are multiple levels, they become grandparent pages, and so on. The top-level boxes (just below Home) are your main sections.
Is this the same sitemap we submit to search engines? +
No — this is a planning document for our team and yours. The XML sitemap that search engines use is a technical file generated automatically when your site goes live. They share a name but serve completely different purposes.
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Once you've reviewed the sitemap…

Submit your sitemap feedback along with your design feedback during the Design Feedback Cycle. Your account manager will confirm the due date. Once finalized, the sitemap becomes the blueprint our developers follow when building your site.

Still have questions?

Our team can walk you through it.

Contact support →