{"id":13080,"date":"2022-01-27T13:32:12","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T13:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/?p=13080"},"modified":"2025-04-03T15:32:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:32:16","slug":"why-you-need-wordpress-sitemap-and-how-you-can-create-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/why-you-need-wordpress-sitemap-and-how-you-can-create-one.html","title":{"rendered":"A WordPress Sitemap: Why You Need It and How You Can Make It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There are different kinds of sitemaps, as well as various opinions on their importance for SEO rankings. In this article, we\u2019ll discuss: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Types of sitemaps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reasons for creating or not creating sitemaps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ways of creating WordPress sitemaps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Main methods of submitting XML sitemaps to search engines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As WordPress is one of the most common CMSs, we\u2019ll consider it in more detail here. Yet, the general notions about sitemaps and their submission are valid for all websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s give sitemaps some thoughts, so continue reading.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-are-the-most-known-sitemap-types\">What Are the Most Known Sitemap Types?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, it\u2019s necessary to define the basic types of sitemaps. You may probably have already heard about&nbsp;two types of sitemaps: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>HTML sitemaps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>XML sitemaps<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Though these sitemap types have much in common, they also have their specific differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-an-xml-sitemap\">What Is an XML Sitemap?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sitemaps.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">XML sitemap<\/a> is an informative file aimed at search engines. This file lists URLs available for crawling. It can also contain additional data about each URL, such as the date of the latest update, the frequency of changes, and its relative importance compared to other pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-an-html-sitemap\">What Is an HTML Sitemap?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>An HTML sitemap is a page on your website aimed mostly at users, functioning as a roadmap or as a book\u2019s table of contents. This page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Contains links to all important pages on the site<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improves website navigation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provides additional interlinking<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is accessible and understandable to search engines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, an HTML sitemap provides visitors with organized information about the site\u2019s structure. As Google Search Central channel states, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/t5LIlkhxl2s?t=25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">HTML sitemaps<\/a> are \u2018a fantastic way to distribute page ranks throughout your site\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"differences-between-an-xml-and-html-wordpress-sitemap\">Differences Between an XML and HTML WordPress Sitemap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although both sitemap types have the same aim (to list available URLs), their functions are different. An XML sitemap is intended for search engines, and it doesn\u2019t help website visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An HTML sitemap mostly serves users who can see it on the website. Due to the HTML sitemap\u2019s formatting, website visitors can easily explore the site\u2019s structure and navigate to essential pages. Often, you can find links to such sitemaps in the footer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Search engines can understand both sitemaps types. If you place the link to the HTML sitemap in the footer, bots can easily access all links available to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"do-you-really-need-an-xml-sitemap\">Do You Really Need an XML Sitemap?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many articles claiming that you must have an XML sitemap to improve your website ranking. However, the importance of a sitemap is often overestimated. Here are the reasons why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Firstly, search engines can discover URLs without a sitemap. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/advanced\/sitemaps\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Google documentation<\/a>, if your website is small and has well-thought navigation where all pages are interlinked, there\u2019s no need to create a sitemap. Crawlers will be able to discover all links without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Secondly, the fact that you created and submitted an XML sitemap doesn\u2019t influence website rankings. It\u2019s up to search bots to crawl and index the pages, so you can\u2019t make this process faster just by providing an XML sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"advantages-of-creating-an-xml-sitemap\">Advantages of Creating an XML Sitemap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155425\/wordpress-xml-sitemap-advantages.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13095\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155425\/wordpress-xml-sitemap-advantages.png 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155425\/wordpress-xml-sitemap-advantages-300x178.png 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155425\/wordpress-xml-sitemap-advantages-768x456.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, there are certain benefits that you get with an XML sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-assisting-search-bots-in-discovering-the-content\">1. Assisting Search Bots in Discovering the Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sitemaps facilitate crawlers\u2019 job in finding the links. When you create and submit a sitemap, you are inviting search bots to come and crawl your website. In other words, you are directly announcing your site\u2019s existence to search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don\u2019t submit a sitemap, sooner or later, search engines will still find your website and inspect the pages. If there are links to your website on other resources, search engines will access your pages. Nevertheless, for new sites that have no or few backlinks, submitting a sitemap can make page indexing faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-easier-page-indexing\">2. Easier Page Indexing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sitemaps usually contain such valuable information as the time of the last update. Consequently, search engines can retrieve this data and \u2018see\u2019 the need to crawl updated content. This feature is especially important for dynamic, fast-changing websites that regularly add new content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-prioritizing-crawling\">3. Prioritizing Crawling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Large websites greatly benefit from sitemaps as the latter help search engines to <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/JlamLfyFjTA?t=103\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">prioritize what pages to crawl<\/a>, according to Google Search Central. Besides, you ensure that search bots don\u2019t overlook some of the pages if they aren\u2019t naturally interlinked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"4-providing-information-about-specific-types-of-content\">4. Providing Information about Specific Types of Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides a general XML sitemap, there are several sitemap extensions that provide additional information about such specific types of content as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Video&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Images<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>News<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, you can tell search bots about the video category, its running time, or age appropriateness. Likewise, news websites can specify an article title, its publication date, and language. Giving search engines a better understanding of the content increases its chances of appearing higher in search engine results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sitemap-guidelines\">Sitemap Guidelines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are various <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sitemaps.org\/faq.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">recommendations<\/a> about XML sitemaps. Here, we\u2019ll consider the basic ones that you should know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"limits-to-the-number-of-urls-and-file-size\">Limits to the Number of URLs and File Size<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Each sitemap shouldn\u2019t exceed 50MB in size. You can use gzip compression to reduce file size. Also, the sitemap can contain 50,000 URLs at most. If your site is bigger than 50,000 URLs, you should create various sitemaps and unite them with a <strong>sitemap index file<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"location\">Location<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You should place your sitemap at the root directory of your HTML server. In other words, your sitemap should have an address similar to http:\/\/example.com\/sitemap.xml.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, all URLs included in the sitemap must have the same protocol (http or https, for instance) and be placed on the same host. So, if the sitemap\u2019s location is http:\/\/www.example.com\/sitemap.xml, it shouldn\u2019t contain such URLs as https:\/\/www.example.com\/ or https:\/\/example.com\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, you should create separate sitemaps for your site\u2019s subdomains, such as http:\/\/subdomain.example.com\/sitemap.xml.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"creating-xml-wordpress-sitemaps\">Creating XML WordPress Sitemaps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, it\u2019s time to speak about different ways of how to create a sitemap in WordPress. We\u2019ll start with XML sitemaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"method-1-how-to-create-an-xml-sitemap-in-wordpress-without-a-plugin\">Method 1. How to Create an XML Sitemap in WordPress Without a Plugin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The first way is to generate an XML sitemap without any plugins. You can do this using:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>WordPress automatic sitemap creation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Online generators<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"using-the-cms-to-create-a-sitemap\">Using the CMS to Create a Sitemap<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress 5.5 version features the automatic creation of XML sitemaps. You simply need to add \u2018wp-sitemap.xml\u2019 to your domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advantage<\/strong>: it\u2019s a fast and easy method. New WordPress users, even if they don\u2019t know how to add a sitemap to WordPress, can generate it without much effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Disadvantage<\/strong>: the default WordPress sitemap isn\u2019t flexible. It\u2019s not easy to adjust the file and delete URLs if you don\u2019t want them to appear in your sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"using-online-generators-to-get-an-xml-sitemap\">Using Online Generators to Get an XML Sitemap<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Numerous online resources, such as an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xml-sitemaps.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">XML Sitemaps Generator<\/a>, can generate a sitemap file.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advantage<\/strong>: you don\u2019t have to install anything to your WordPress admin panel, as you can do everything online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Disadvantages<\/strong>:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Downloading\/uploading the file<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Updating sitemaps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A limited number of links in free accounts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You have to download the sitemap file generated online and manually upload it to your website. Afterward, when your website changes, it\u2019s necessary to create a new sitemap and upload the file again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, many online generators are free for only small websites (up to 500 pages). If you have more URLs to include in your sitemap, you\u2019ll have to purchase a pro account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"method-2-how-to-create-an-xml-sitemap-in-wordpress-using-plugins\">Method 2. How to Create an XML Sitemap in WordPress Using Plugins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Various WordPress plugins can help you create a custom sitemap. Firstly, SEO plugins, among other functions, let you generate sitemaps. So, if you have an installed SEO plugin, check its features to see whether sitemaps are available there. Secondly, there are specialized plugins for creating sitemaps for those who don\u2019t want to install an SEO plugin.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"creating-an-xml-sitemap-with-seo-plugins\">Creating an XML Sitemap with SEO Plugins<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Numerous SEO plugins that create sitemaps are available in WordPress. Here, we\u2019ll consider just three of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"yoast-seo\">Yoast SEO<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165116\/yoastseo-plugin-1024x587.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13117\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165116\/yoastseo-plugin-1024x587.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165116\/yoastseo-plugin-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165116\/yoastseo-plugin-768x441.jpg 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165116\/yoastseo-plugin.jpg 1135w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As one of the best SEO plugins for WordPress, the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wordpress-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Yoast SEO<\/a> plugin has had more than 5 million installations since 2008. It\u2019s compatible with WordPress 5.6 or higher. Regular updates extend its functionality, and XML sitemaps are one of the free features you get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After installing the plugin, you\u2019ll see \u2018SEO\u2019 on the left-hand side of the WordPress dashboard. Open the General section and go to the \u2018Features\u2019 tab. Then, you\u2019ll see the line \u2018XML sitemaps\u2019 and the switch \u2018On\/off\u2019 that you can toggle. Make sure that sitemaps are turned on, and save the changes. The plugin will generate the sitemap automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to see your WordPress sitemap, click the question mark and, in the description, choose \u2018See the XML sitemap\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll notice that Yoast SEO adds various sitemaps for all content types to the index sitemap file. By default, there are pages, posts, categories, tags, etc. We recommend checking all sitemaps carefully and excluding links that shouldn\u2019t be indexed (we\u2019ll talk about that a bit later).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sitemaps by Yoast SEO have \/sitemap_index.xml extension, not \/sitemap.xml. It means that you don\u2019t have to open the plugin\u2019s settings to see the sitemap, as you can add \/sitemap_index.xml to your domain. Additionally, if you can still find a sitemap by adding \/sitemap.xml, it means that another plugin or WordPress itself generates the sitemap. Make sure you choose only one option and create one WordPress sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"aioseo\">AIOSEO<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"663\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165138\/aioseo-plugin-1024x663.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13118\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165138\/aioseo-plugin-1024x663.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165138\/aioseo-plugin-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165138\/aioseo-plugin-768x497.jpg 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165138\/aioseo-plugin.jpg 1127w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another plugin, <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/all-in-one-seo-pack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">All in One SEO<\/a>, also started quite long ago, in 2007, and has more than 3 million installations. It works with WordPress 4.9 or higher and is updated regularly. The free AIOSEO version lets you create a general sitemap. The Pro version includes advanced sitemap options, such as video and news sitemaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After installing the AIOSEO plugin, you\u2019ll see the option \u2018Sitemaps\u2019 under All in One SEO on the dashboard. The plugin automatically generates the sitemap, replacing the default WordPress sitemap. Make sure that the switch \u2018Enable Sitemap\u2019 is turned on, and preview your sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s possible to customize your WordPress sitemap and choose what to include in it. To do this, find the Sitemap settings section and select the necessary options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"seopress\">SEOPress<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"571\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165205\/seopress-plugin-1024x571.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13119\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165205\/seopress-plugin-1024x571.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165205\/seopress-plugin-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165205\/seopress-plugin-768x428.jpg 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26165205\/seopress-plugin.jpg 1126w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-seopress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SEOPress<\/a> is also a convenient tool to create an XML sitemap even in its free version. This plugin is compatible with WordPress 4.7 or higher, has more than 200.000 installations, and gets regular updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To create your WordPress XML sitemap, go to the XML Sitemap section in SEO (after installing the plugin, surely) and click \u2018Enable XML \u2013 HTML Sitemap\u2019. Remember to save the changes. There is a button \u2018View your sitemap\u2019 so that you can check what the file contains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SEOPress plugin also lets you customize the sitemap. By default, all your posts, categories, pages, etc., will be added to the sitemap. If you don\u2019t want to include specific links, select the necessary options in Post Types and Taxonomies tabs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"excluding-pages-from-xml-sitemaps\">Excluding Pages from XML Sitemaps&nbsp;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>As we mentioned above, it\u2019s essential to decide what pages your sitemap should contain.<strong> <\/strong>Sometimes, automatically generated sitemaps include thin content pages &#8211; the ones that are not valuable for visitors. Depending on your website\u2019s type, such pages can be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Post tags<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Post types<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Category pages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Product pages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Author pages<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, other WordPress plugins can create additional pages that also get to the sitemap. For instance, in the screenshot below, you can see a sitemap that contains a Jet popup, Jet Menu, Jet Engine, and Jet WooBuilder sitemaps. The pages are created by JetWidgets and don\u2019t have to be added to the sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"769\" height=\"470\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03152849\/xml-sitemap.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22911\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03152849\/xml-sitemap.jpg 769w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03152849\/xml-sitemap-300x183.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 769px) 100vw, 769px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To exclude such sitemaps from the index sitemap file, you should check Content Types and switch off unnecessary types in the Yoast SEO plugin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sitemap settings in AIOSEO also let you exclude post types and taxonomies (categories and tags) when you create a sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, if you have created a small eCommerce website with several products and posts on the blog, your sitemap generated by Yoast SEO will look like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"637\" height=\"245\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03152940\/xml-sitemap-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22913\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03152940\/xml-sitemap-2.jpg 637w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03152940\/xml-sitemap-2-300x115.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 637px) 100vw, 637px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"using-specialized-plugins-to-generate-wordpress-sitemaps\">Using Specialized Plugins to Generate WordPress Sitemaps<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don\u2019t wish to install SEO plugins with various features, you can also find specialized ones, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/companion-sitemap-generator\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Companion Sitemap Generator<\/a>. It\u2019s suitable for WordPress version 4.6.0 or higher and has more than 9.000 installations. You can generate an XML sitemap, adding or removing pages, categories, posts, post tags, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"creating-an-html-sitemap-in-wordpress\">Creating an HTML Sitemap in WordPress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar to XML sitemaps, there are several methods of generating an HTML sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-use-online-generators\">1. Use Online Generators<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xml-sitemaps.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">XML Sitemaps Generator<\/a> mentioned earlier can also create HTML sitemaps. Just enter your website\u2019s address, generate a sitemap, scroll the page down, and download your sitemaps (including an HTML sitemap) as a ZIP file. Before downloading, you can preview your HTML sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"783\" height=\"332\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153016\/online-xmla-sitemap-generator.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22914\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153016\/online-xmla-sitemap-generator.jpg 783w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153016\/online-xmla-sitemap-generator-300x127.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153016\/online-xmla-sitemap-generator-768x326.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 783px) 100vw, 783px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-generate-an-html-sitemap-with-plugins\">2. Generate an HTML Sitemap with Plugins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly to generating XML sitemaps, you may use plugins to create a WordPress HTML sitemap. The Companion Sitemap Generator described above lets you get both an XML and HTML sitemaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also use other plugins, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-sitemap-page\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WP Sitemap Page<\/a>, that specialize in generating an HTML sitemap (not an XML sitemap). This plugin works with WordPress 3.0 and it was updated 2 months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"which-method-should-you-choose\">Which Method Should You Choose?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Google Search Central recommends finding a way of <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/JlamLfyFjTA?t=175\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">automatic sitemap generation<\/a> rather than creating it manually. So, choose the best sitemap generator for WordPress that you like and enjoy the ease of sitemap creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-submit-your-xml-sitemap-to-search-engines\">How to Submit Your XML Sitemap to Search Engines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After you have created, modified, and checked your XML sitemap, it\u2019s necessary to submit it to search engines. Let\u2019s discuss the advantages of submitting a sitemap and the ways of doing it (for Google and Bing) briefly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"benefits-of-submitting-a-sitemap-to-search-engines\">Benefits of Submitting a Sitemap to Search Engines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After you submit the sitemap, you can&nbsp;do the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Check if the sitemap was processed successfully<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See the time of the latest crawl<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monitor URL index coverage in search engines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, in the screenshot below you can see that the sitemap has a \u2018Success\u2019 status, which means that it was fetched by search crawlers. Moreover, you can check when it was read last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"994\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153059\/submit-to-search-console.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22915\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153059\/submit-to-search-console.jpg 994w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153059\/submit-to-search-console-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153059\/submit-to-search-console-768x330.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 994px) 100vw, 994px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Later, you can see more detailed reports about indexing your website\u2019s URLs. Particularly, it\u2019s possible to inspect how many URLs are valid and which pages (if any) have errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If any links are excluded from indexing, you can get information about the reasons for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"964\" height=\"913\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153135\/excluded.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22916\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153135\/excluded.jpg 964w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153135\/excluded-300x284.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153135\/excluded-768x727.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 964px) 100vw, 964px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Search engines can find sitemaps themselves; yet, it\u2019s better to submit the sitemap manually to make sure it was fetched and processed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"submitting-your-xml-sitemap-to-google-via-google-search-console\">Submitting Your XML Sitemap to Google via Google Search Console<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To add your website\u2019s sitemap to Google, you can use a free tool &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/welcome\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Google Search Console<\/a>. After creating an account, you have to select a property type (either domain or URL prefix), and verify your property. You can choose from various methods, and an HTML tag method is the easiest one. You can copy the code and add it to the homepage using AIOSEO and Yoast plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After adding the HTML tag to the website and verifying the property in the Google Search Console, you can add the sitemap. Simply&nbsp;do the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Find \u2018Sitemaps\u2019 on the left-hand panel<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add your sitemap\u2019s URL<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click \u2018Submit\u2019 and wait<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"387\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153206\/add-sitemap-1024x387.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22917\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153206\/add-sitemap-1024x387.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153206\/add-sitemap-300x113.jpg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153206\/add-sitemap-768x290.jpg 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153206\/add-sitemap-1536x580.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/03153206\/add-sitemap.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Search bots will need some time to crawl and process URLs. Afterward, you\u2019ll see the results and statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"submitting-your-xml-sitemap-to-bing-with-bing-webmaster-tools\">Submitting Your XML Sitemap to Bing with Bing Webmaster Tools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To submit your website to Bing, you should use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/toolbox\/webmaster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Bing Webmaster Tools<\/a>. The good news is that you can use your Google account to import your site to Bing. Therefore, if you have already submitted your sitemap to Google, doing this with Bing will be fast and easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, you can submit your website to Bing manually. It\u2019s necessary to verify the property (similar to Google Search Console).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"submitting-your-xml-sitemap-via-an-http-request\">Submitting Your XML Sitemap via an HTTP request<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s also possible to submit the sitemap to search engines with the ping tool. Go through these steps: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Open the browser and type the address of the search engine where you want to submit your file (https:\/\/www.google.com\/, https:\/\/www.bing.com\/, or any other). <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add the ping request for the sitemap to the address: ping?sitemap=.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Type the full address of the sitemap (such as https:\/\/www.example.com\/sitemap.xml) and press \u2018Enter\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The address will look like this: https:\/\/www.google.com\/ping?sitemap=https:\/\/www.example.com\/sitemap.xml. If the request is successful, you\u2019ll get an HTTP 200 response code. It means that the search engine has got your sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"submitting-your-xml-sitemap-via-a-robots-txt-file\">Submitting Your XML Sitemap via a robots.txt File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a robots.txt file, you can easily add a line specifying the sitemap\u2019s location. It should look like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sitemap: https:\/\/www.example.com\/sitemap.xml.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next time search bots crawl your robots.txt file, they will discover the sitemap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-utilize-xml-sitemaps-to-grow-your-website\">How to Utilize XML Sitemaps to Grow Your Website?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides the benefits that we\u2019ve already discussed (controlling page indexation and identifying any mistakes), sitemaps have more advantages. They are significant for growing websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"regulate-relative-importance-of-pages\">Regulate Relative Importance of Pages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While customizing the sitemap, you can set the priority of page scanning. Thus, you\u2019ll instruct search engines and control indexing efficiently. You can be sure that the most important pages are scanned first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"get-indexation-faster\">Get Indexation Faster<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have dynamically-generated pages, the sitemap helps you inform search engines about them. In other words, the sitemap ensures that newly-created pages won\u2019t be overlooked by bots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"add-regional-website-versions\">Add Regional Website Versions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In case you plan to extend your website and add other pages in different languages, you can inform search engines about regional versions with your sitemap. You should use special hreflang attributes when enumerating page versions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To sum up, XML sitemaps are an efficient tool to inform search engines about your website structure, ensure that all pages are indexed and have no mistakes, and prioritize crawling. HTML sitemaps serve to improve website navigation for visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest way to generate a WordPress sitemap is using various plugins. They let you customize the file by adjusting the settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity advgb-dyn-c3f4f0ad\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-8c7c2b57-e4b9-4fc7-a305-db740dd55781\">Superior WordPress Development Services from GetDevDone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-7af1e4ea-9576-489d-8775-b5095ff353c2\"><em>Still have questions about creating a WordPress sitemap?  Ask our <a href=\"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/wordpress-development-services.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordPress developers<\/a>. With 16+ years of industry experience and thousands of successfully completed WP projects, we know everything about the world&#8217;s most popular CMS.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-8ead7c7e-134b-44bf-b2a5-5a2d47177fd7\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/contact-us.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reach out to <\/a>us with any WordPress-related task, from developing custom themes to improving your website&#8217;s Core Web Vitals scores and strengthening its security. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Helping your business grow and thrive is our number one priority!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post is a comprehensive guide on WordPress sitemaps. You will learn why you need a sitemap, what types of sitemaps exist, and how you can create one yourself. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[740,752],"tags":[774,765,814],"class_list":["post-13080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorial","category-wordpress-development","tag-cms-development","tag-technical-seo","tag-wordpress"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Dmytro Mashchenko","author_link":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/author\/dima"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155108\/Intro-preview-6-300x300.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/category\/tutorial\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Tutorial<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/category\/wordpress-development\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">WordPress development<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Tutorial<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">WordPress development<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/category\/wordpress-development\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">CMS development<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/category\/wordpress-development\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Technical SEO<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/category\/wordpress-development\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">WordPress<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">CMS development<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Technical SEO<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">WordPress<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on January 27, 2022","modified":"Updated on April 3, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on January 27, 2022 1:32 pm","modified":"Updated on April 3, 2025 3:32 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","featured_image_urls":{"thumbnail_723x315":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155108\/Intro-preview-6-400x315.png","thumbnail_723x315-2x":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155108\/Intro-preview-6.png","thumbnail_723x315-3x":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155108\/Intro-preview-6.png","thumbnail_770x510":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155108\/Intro-preview-6.png","thumbnail_770x510-2x":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155108\/Intro-preview-6.png","thumbnail_770x510-3x":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/newblog.psd2html.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/26155108\/Intro-preview-6.png"},"featured_post_color":"#f3a345","author_avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/97bd036a871c68c70de0956108719ad9489849769ee15e25e0bee81f3bdd7286?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_position":"CEO of GetDevDone","reading_time":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\"><\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 12<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">min read<\/span><\/span>","prev_post":{"slug":"how-to-edit-the-footer-in-wordpress-to-meet-your-needs","name":"How to Edit the Footer in WordPress to Meet Your Needs"},"next_post":{"slug":"okrs-vs-eos-which-framework-to-choose-for-managing-your-agency","name":"OKRs Vs. EOS: Which Framework to Choose for Managing Your Agency?"},"related_posts":["how-to-fix-http-error-when-uploading-images-in-wordpress","best-wordpress-gallery-plugins","3-main-reasons-to-use-wordpress-for-building-your-minimum-viable-product"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13080"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24812,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13080\/revisions\/24812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getdevdone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}