<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
  ============================================================
  AlternateIncomeSource.com — XML Sitemap
  File: sitemap.xml (lives in ROOT of repository)
  ============================================================

  WHAT IS THIS FILE?
  → A map of every page on your website
  → Google reads this to discover all your pages
  → Without this Google finds pages slowly
  → With this Google finds all pages fast

  WHY IS IT XML FORMAT?
  → XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a language
    that machines read perfectly
  → Like HTML is for browsers
  → XML is for robots like Google

  HOW DOES GOOGLE USE THIS?
  → Google visits this URL:
    www.alternateincomesource.com/sitemap.xml
  → Reads every URL listed here
  → Adds each page to its index (search results)
  → Checks back every few days for new pages

  HOW TO ADD A NEW PAGE IN THE FUTURE:
  → Copy the 5 lines between <url> and </url>
  → Paste them at the bottom before </urlset>
  → Change the <loc> to your new page URL
  → Change <lastmod> to today's date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  → Commit the file
  → Done in 30 seconds

  EXAMPLE OF ADDING NEW PAGE:
  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/blog/new-article/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-04</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>
  ============================================================
-->

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9
        http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9/sitemap.xsd">

  <!--
    PRIORITY EXPLAINED:
    1.0 = most important page (homepage only)
    0.8 = very important pages
    0.7 = normal important pages (blog articles)
    0.5 = less important pages (legal pages)

    CHANGEFREQ EXPLAINED:
    weekly  = Google checks this page every week
    monthly = Google checks this page every month
    yearly  = Google checks this page once a year
  -->

  <!-- ══════════════════════════════════════
       HOMEPAGE — Most important page
  ══════════════════════════════════════ -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
  </url>

  <!-- ══════════════════════════════════════
       MAIN NAVIGATION PAGES
  ══════════════════════════════════════ -->

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/about/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/earn/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/school/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/blog/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

  <!-- ══════════════════════════════════════
       BLOG ARTICLES
       Add new articles here as you write them
  ══════════════════════════════════════ -->

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/blog/earn-from-task-sites/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.9</priority>
  </url>
  <!--
    Priority 0.9 for this article because:
    → Contains referral links (earns you money)
    → High search volume keywords
    → Most important earning article on the site
  -->

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/blog/free-domain-from-earnings/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

  <!-- ══════════════════════════════════════
       TOOLS SECTION
       Add each tool page here when built
       Example for future:
       <url>
         <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/tools/word-counter/</loc>
         <lastmod>2026-05-04</lastmod>
         <changefreq>yearly</changefreq>
         <priority>0.7</priority>
       </url>
  ══════════════════════════════════════ -->

  <!-- ══════════════════════════════════════
       LEGAL PAGES
       Priority 0.4 — important but not for ranking
  ══════════════════════════════════════ -->

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/legal/privacy.html</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>yearly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.4</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/legal/terms.html</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>yearly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.4</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/legal/disclaimer.html</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>yearly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.4</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/legal/affiliate.html</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>yearly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.4</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/legal/earnings.html</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-05-03</lastmod>
    <changefreq>yearly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.4</priority>
  </url>

  <!--
    ══════════════════════════════════════
    HOW TO ADD NEW PAGES IN FUTURE
    (copy these 5 lines exactly):

    <url>
      <loc>https://www.alternateincomesource.com/YOUR-PAGE-URL/</loc>
      <lastmod>YYYY-MM-DD</lastmod>
      <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
      <priority>0.7</priority>
    </url>

    PASTE ABOVE THE </urlset> LINE BELOW
    ══════════════════════════════════════
  -->

</urlset>
