Difference between Information Architecture and Sitemap

Information Architecture: Information Architecture, as the name suggests, act as a blueprint to map interaction patterns and path. It mainly focuses on organizing information, structuring websites and mobile app, and also to help users navigate them to find and process content they want.  

Sitemap: Sitemap, as the name suggests, is a fundamental feature of the website’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization) that improves the crawling of the website. It simply provides a list of webpages in a single-page layout and gives better visibility to search engines.  

Information Architecture vs Sitemap:

Information Architecture	Sitemap
Information architecture is basically process of creating the structure of the website.	A sitemap is basically a list of web pages of the website within a domain.
It is required for users as users might get lost when visiting the website.	It is required to help both users and search engines to navigate the site.
It provides content in a clear and understandable way, arranges it according to the relation among content pieces, etc.	It provides information about web pages, videos, etc., on websites and relationships among them.
It mainly focuses on organizing, structuring, and labeling content in a more effective and understandable way.	It mainly focuses on providing a map that contains information about all located resources on the website.
Its main goal is to help users or visitors to find information and complete their task.	Its main goal is to help you clarify what exactly the website’s goals are before starting designing and creating content so that one can ensure that each and every part of the website is stepping towards the completion of the goal.
It involves structuring components of a website to make it more understandable and so that people can find what they want easily and smoothly.	It involves a flow chart that shows always that users or visitors can navigation through the website.
Types of information architecture include hierarchical architecture, sequential architecture, matrix architecture, etc.	Types of sitemap includes HTML sitemap, XML sitemap, etc.
Good information structure makes the path clear for visitors, makes the site easier to navigate, and increases user experience.	A good sitemap allows one to prioritize and rank webpages as well as one can also give them scores between 0.1 and 1.