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XML sitemaps: a field note from a photo studio
13 Aug 2024
How a photo studio deals with XML sitemaps — and what usually goes wrong.
The problem: a chat widget that blocks the submit button. This breaks XML sitemaps for a photo studio.
We rotate API keys for XML sitemaps annually. a photo studio did not see the point until we showed them the access log: the old key had been used from an IP in a country nobody on their team has visited.
The hosting bill for a photo studio is twelve dollars a month. Their old provider charged eighty and included a page builder nobody used. XML sitemaps was broken on both plans.
Half the meeting with a photo studio was explaining what XML sitemaps is. The other half was agreeing that a chat widget that blocks the submit button should have been fixed a year ago.
When we onboard a photo studio, the first thing we check is XML sitemaps. It tells us more about the previous provider than any sales call.
We checked the WHOIS for a photo studio and found the domain was registered under a former employee. Transferring it took more time than fixing XML sitemaps.
We underestimated how long XML sitemaps migration would take for a photo studio. The estimate was two hours; the reality was a full day because a chat widget that blocks the submit button had never been documented.
The chain of trust for XML sitemaps starts at the registrar. If the registrar account uses an email nobody reads, every downstream fix is temporary.
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