Answer: A sitemap is an XML file that lists all the important pages on your website. Its primary importance for SEO lies in helping search engines discover and crawl your website’s content more efficiently. Search engine crawlers use sitemaps to understand the structure of your website and prioritize which pages to index. A well-structured sitemap ensures that all your important pages, including those that might not be easily linked from other pages (like deeply nested pages or recently added content), are included in the search engine index, improving your website’s visibility in search results. Without a sitemap, some pages might be missed, leading to lower search engine rankings and reduced organic traffic. Submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools is a crucial step in optimizing your website for search engines and improving its overall SEO performance.