An HTML sitemap is a list of pages on a website that is accessible to users and search engines. It is typically organized in a hierarchy and helps users navigate the website by showing them the structure of the site and the relationships between different pages.
An XML sitemap is a file that lists all of the pages on a website in a specific format that can be read by search engines. It is not intended for human users and is used solely for the purpose of helping search engines discover and crawl the pages on a website.
XML sitemaps provide additional information about each page on the website, such as the date it was last updated, how often it changes, and its importance relative to other pages on the site. This information can help search engines more intelligently crawl the website and improve the chances of the pages being indexed.
Both HTML and XML sitemaps can be useful for SEO, but they serve different purposes. An HTML sitemap is useful for helping users navigate a website, while an XML sitemap is primarily used to help search engines discover and crawl the pages on a website.