Hello, dear readers of the blog site. I decided to summarize in one article everything that I have already written about the sitemap (Sitemap xml), which is primarily needed to indicate to search engines those pages that they should index first. It is a very important and, in fact, mandatory attribute of any web project, but many either do not know this or do not attach much importance to the Site map.
Let’s dot all the i’s right away and try to separate two concepts - sitemaps in xml format and in Html format (there is also a geographical interpretation of this word, which I wrote about in the article “”). The second option is a regular list of all materials on a web resource, which will be available to anyone by clicking on the corresponding menu item. This option is also useful and helps speed up and improve the indexing of your resource by search engines.
Sitemap sitemap in xml format - but I need it
But the main tool designed to directly indicate to search engines those resource pages that will need to be indexed is a file called Sitemap.xml (this is its most common name, but in theory it can be called anything, it doesn’t matter), which will not visible to visitors of your web project.
It is compiled using a special syntax that is understandable to search engines, where all pages to be indexed will be listed, indicating their degree of importance, the date of the last update and the approximate frequency of updating.
There are two main files that any web project should have - robots.txt and sitemap.xml. If your project does not have them or they are not filled out correctly, then with a high degree of probability you are seriously harming your resource and not allowing it to reveal itself to its full potential.
You, of course, may not listen to me (because I am not an authority, due to the relatively small accumulated factual material), but I think that you will not argue indiscriminately with specialists who have statistics from tens of thousands of projects at hand.
For this occasion, I had a “grand piano in the bushes” in stock. Right before writing this article, I came across a publication by specialists from the well-known automatic promotion system under the unusual name “Hands” (this is an analogue of MegaIndex, which I wrote about).
It is clear that any system similar to them is interested in the successful progress of their clients’ projects, but they can only pump up clients’ resources with link mass, and, unfortunately, they cannot influence the content and correct technical configuration of sites.
Therefore, a very interesting and revealing study was conducted, which was designed to identify the 10 most popular reasons that make it difficult to promote projects and point these data directly to clients...
In first place, of course, was “not unique content” (either you copied it or you have it, which doesn’t change the essence). But in second place was precisely the sitemap in xml format, or rather its absence or inconsistency with the recognized creation format. Well, in third place was the previously mentioned robots.txt file (its absence or incorrect creation):
When you assert unfoundedly that your project must have a map (otherwise it’s a waste), it does not sound as convincing as if this statement is supported by real facts from a fairly representative study.
Okay, let’s assume that I’ve convinced you and let’s see how you can create a sitemap yourself (format syntax), how to make it for Joomla and WordPress, and also see how you can create it using special online generators.
But simply creating a sitemap is not enough to be sure that your project will be correctly indexed by search engines. It will also be necessary to make sure that search engines (in our case, Google and Yandex) find out about this very sitemap. This can be done in two ways, but we will talk about this a little later (there must be at least some kind of intrigue that holds the attention of readers).
Why do you need a map site and a robots.txt file?
Let's first try to justify the logical necessity of using both the robots.txt file, which prohibits the indexing of certain elements of your web project, and the sitemap file, which requires the indexing of certain pages. To do this, let’s go back five or ten years ago, when most resources on the Internet were simply a set of Html files, which contained the texts of all articles.
A Google or Yandex search robot simply went to such an Html project and began indexing everything it could get its hands on, because almost everywhere contained the project’s content. But what is happening now, in conditions of the widespread use of CMS (content management systems)? Actually, even immediately after installing the engine, the search robot will already find several thousand files on you, and this despite the fact that you may not yet have any content (well, you haven’t written a single article yet).
And in general, content in modern CMSs, as a rule, is stored not in files, but in a database, which a search robot naturally cannot index directly (for working with databases, I recommend it for free).
It is clear that after poking around here and there, the search robots of Yandex and Google will still find your content and index it, but how quickly will this happen and How complete will the indexing be? your project is a very big question.
It is precisely to simplify and speed up the indexing of projects by search engines in the context of the widespread use of CMS that robots.txt and sitemap.xml should be created. Using the first file, you tell search engine robots which files should not waste time indexing (engine objects, for example), and you can also use it to block some pages from indexing to eliminate the effect of duplicating content, which is inherent in many CMSs (read about this more details in the article about).
And with the help of a sitemap file, you clearly and clearly tell the Yandex and Google robots what exactly your project contains content, so that they do not poke around in vain in the corners of the file management of the engine used. Do not forget that bots have certain limits on the time and number of documents viewed. It will wander through your engine files and leave, and the content will remain unindexed for a long time. Oh how.
Remember how in a famous comedy one colorful character said: “Don’t go there, you go here, otherwise...”. It is precisely the function of this character that is performed by robots.txt and a map site with an xml extension to regulate the movements of search bots through the nooks and crannies of your web project. It is clear that bots can kick up, but most likely they will obediently carry out your well-written prohibiting and prescriptive (in the site map) instructions.
It's clear? Then we proceed directly to solving the question of how to create sitemap.xml in various ways and how to inform about its existence to the two pillars of search in RuNet - Google and Yandex, so that they do not rummage through your project in vain, while also creating additional load on your server hosting, but this, however, is a very secondary thing, the main thing is indexing (fast and comprehensive).
Unlike robots.txt, which you will most likely have to write yourself, a sitemap file in xml format, as a rule, they try to create in some automatic way. This is understandable, because with a large number of pages on a frequently updated project, creating it manually can damage the mind of the webmaster.
Yes, this is not at all necessary, because... For almost every CMS there is an extension that will allow you to create and, when new materials appear, re-create a sitemap file. Well, or you can always use some online sitemap generator as a ready-made solution.
But still, it seems to me that it would be useful to familiarize yourself with the simple (what can I say - the simplest) syntax for creating a sitemap. In addition, on small and rarely updated projects, you can sketch it out manually.
How to create Sitemap.xml yourself in Joomla and WordPress
Usually the “Sitemap” directive is written at the very end. The next time search robots visit your web project, they will definitely look at the contents of robots.txt and download your map for study. However, in this way all sorts of radishes can find out about its existence, which the map site will help steal your content.
But there is another way to directly transmit information about the location of the site map to search engines without the mediation of robots.txt. This is done through the Yandex Webmaster interface and Google toolbars, although you can use. Are you already familiar with these search engine tools?
If not, be sure to add your project to both , and to , and then indicate the path to your sitemap in Xml format in the appropriate tabs.
This is what the form for adding a sitemap for Yandex Webmaster looks like:
And this is what a similar form for entering a path looks like in the Google toolbar:
Online generators Sitemap Generator and XML Sitemaps
If you don’t want to look for extensions for your CMS that allow you to automatically create a map site, then you can use online generators in this case. However, there is one drawback here compared to the automatic creation of a map in the CMS itself - after adding new materials, you will have to go to the online service again and re-create this file, and then upload it to your server.
Probably one of the most famous online sitemap generators is Sitemap Generator. It has quite a lot of functionality and will allow you to generate a sitemap for 1500 pages for free, which is quite a lot.
Sitemap Generator will take into account the contents of your robots.txt file so that pages that are prohibited from indexing are not included in the map. This in itself is not scary, because a ban in robots will have a higher priority anyway, but it will save you from unnecessary information in the created Site map file. In order to make a map, you just need to indicate the URL of the main page and provide your E-mail, after which you will be put in a queue for generation:
When it’s your turn, you will receive an email notification about this and by clicking on the link from the letter you will be able to download the file that Sitemap Generator made for you. All you have to do is upload it to the right place on your server. Well, you will have to repeat this procedure from time to time in order to keep your sitemap up to date.
There is a similar English-language online generator service, which you can find at this link - XML Sitemaps. It has a limit of 500 pages, but otherwise everything is almost the same as described above.
Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site
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(Last update: 12/25/2019)
Hello colleagues! In this post I will tell you how to create and configure a Sitemap for WordPress, for search engines such as Yandex, Google, Bing, [email protected]. Don't confuse XML with HTML. The first is suitable for search engines, and the second is intended primarily for users. You probably already know what an XML sitemap is.
Let me remind you: this is a list of pages of your website/blog that your visitors do not see, but are only clearly visible. The XML Sitemap file allows you to inform Google and Yandex about the pages of your site so that they are guaranteed to be included in the search engine index.
XML Sitemaps can help search engines determine the location of site pages, blog pages, when they were last updated, frequency of updates, and importance relative to other pages on the web resource so that the search engine can index the site more intelligently.
What is a Sitemap?
A sitemap is a way of organizing a website, showing URLs and data in each section. The XML document contains instructions for search engine robots.
Sitemap - XML files with information for search engines (such as Google, Yandex, Bing, [email protected]) about website pages that are subject to indexing. Simply put, these are the site URLs that you send to search engines.
Yandex supports XML and TXT formats. The XML format allows additional information to be conveyed.
How to create Sitemaps for a WordPress site?
The plugin will help us create a blog or site map on WordPress Google XML Sitemaps. Which generates an XML file that improves the indexing of a web resource by search engines, updates it, and so on. All you need is a plugin, configure it and forget about it. Installation of Google XML Sitemaps is standard.
Google XML Sitemaps WordPress Plugin
One of the best WP plugins. It will provide a complete XML sitemap for search engines. It has already been installed more than 24,243,146 times.
Use this plugin, it will greatly improve your SEO. It will create a special XML sitemap and help search engines such as Google, Bing, Yandex and Mail Ru better index your web resource. With a sitemap like this, it's much easier for crawlers to see the full structure of your site and extract it more efficiently. The plugin supports all kinds of pages generated by WordPress, as well as custom URLs.
Plus, it notifies all major search engines every time you post new content. The module is completely free and translated into Russian (though not completely, but the most important things have been translated).
Install the plugin in the usual way using the Plugins - Add New function. In the search field, enter its name Google XML Sitemaps:
Setting up XML Sitemaps
After successfully installing and activating the plugin, you need to configure it. In the "Settings" section, click on XML-Sitemap:
The page: XML Sitemap Generator for WordPress will open, where you need to configure it. On this page, at the very top, you will see a link to your card:
You can click on it and see what it looks like:
Important settings are in our native and powerful Russian language, so it won’t be difficult for you to understand everything. What settings can be made? The plugin developer indicates that the default values are suitable for most sites. But still, each user must decide for himself. Indicate which categories to exclude from the map, the contents of the site map, priorities, frequency of changes, and so on. It should be something like this:
After all the settings, be sure to click “Update settings”. Ready. The next step is to add the Sitemap file in the search engine webmaster to speed up the indexing of the WordPress site. And also add a link to the map in robots.txt.
So, which pages should you include in your map? For SEO reasons, it is recommended to only include pages that you would like to see in searches.
Now, when writing an article, the plugin will inform search engines (not all, but only Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com) about updating your blog. The plugin will automatically update your sitemap if you post, so there's nothing else you need to do
For other search engines, you need to do this - read.
Please note, friends, the XML Sitemaps function is available in SEO plugins and .
All the best and see you again. Bye bye!
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Video from Yandex Webmaster:
Sitemap.xml is compiled taking into account a special syntax that is understandable to search engines, where all pages to be indexed will be listed, indicating their degree of importance, the date of last update and the approximate frequency of updating.
There are two main files that any web project must have - robots.txt and sitemap.xml. If your project does not have them or they are not filled out correctly, then with a high degree of probability you are seriously harming your resource and not allowing it to reveal itself to its full potential.
Does the sitemap.xml file affect website promotion?
If you do not have a sitemap, this does not mean that search engines will not index the resource. Search robots often scan sites quite well without this and include them in the search. But sometimes glitches can occur, due to which sometimes it is not possible to find all web documents. The main reasons are:
- Sections of the site that can only be reached by making a long chain of transitions;
- Dynamic URLs.
Creating a sitemap.xml helps solve this problem.
Sitemap.xml affects SEO indirectly: by facilitating and speeding up the indexing of pages.
Sitemap sitemap in HTML format
Sitemaps are divided into 2 main types or formats: sitemap html and a sitemap xml file. HTML sitemap is a site page, which lists the links. Usually these are links to the most important sections and pages of the site. HTML sitemap is more designed for people rather than robots and helps you quickly navigate the main sections of the site. For a sitemap in the form of an HTML page, there are serious restrictions on the number of links on one page. If there are too many links on a page, not all links may be indexed, or the sitemap page may even be excluded from searches for having an excessive number of links, even internal links.
In order for the html sitemap to be correctly indexed and adequately perceived by visitors, you should not place more than 100 links on the page. This is more than enough to place on the page all the sections and subsections that do not fit into the main menu.
Usually, sitemap file in HTML format has a tree structure, where expanded sections and subsections are indicated. Unnecessarily bulky HTML site maps are often designed with graphic elements, CSS styles and supplemented with Java script. However, an html sitemap is of little value to search engines.
An HTML sitemap is not a full-fledged sitemap. What to do if the site has hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of pages? To do this, you need to place links to all pages in the sitemap in xml format.
Sitemap sitemap.txt
Another way to create a site map in the form of a file can be a site map in txt format:
1. http://site.ru/ 2. http://site.ru/page/ 3. http://site.ru/page1/
It's simple. The sitemap.txt file lists all the necessary links line by line. A sitemap in txt format is an “option for the lazy”. A similar sitemap xml limitation of 50,000 links works here. However, the TXT sitemap does not have the ability to indicate the last modified date and page priority.
XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file in xml format, like sitemap.xml, which is usually located at the root of the site. A sitemap in xml format has many advantages over an html sitemap:
- Sitemap xml is a special sitemap format, which is determined by all popular search engines, such as Google and Yandex.
- You can specify up to 50,000 links in xml sitemap.
- In sitemap xml you can specify the relative priority and frequency of page updates.
The contents of the site map are only recommendations for the search robot. For example, if you set an annual update frequency for a website page, search robots will still visit more often. And if you set the page refresh rate to be hourly, this does not mean that robots will index the page every hour.
How to create the correct sitemap.xml
Let's look at how to make a proper xml map. The following requirements must be met:
- The file size should be no more than 10 MB;
- The map should contain no more than 50,000 links. In cases where there are more links, you can create several maps and include them in the main xml map;
- The sitemap address should be entered in robots.txt;
- Also upload the sitemap to Yandex and Google (how to add a file is described below);
- Search engines must have access to the map. It is necessary to use special tags that let search engines understand that this is a map and not something else;
- The sitemap must have UTF-8 encoding.
The contents of the sitemap.xml file look like:
Where the following required tags are used:
- parent tag, it contains all URLs; - a tag that contains information about a specific URL; https://artano.ru/en/- in this tag the url is indicated directly.
- this tag contains the date the page was last modified; - the tag is used to indicate how often the page changes: always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never; Indicates the priority of a particular page relative to other pages on the site from 0.1 – low priority, to 1 – high priority.
Changefreq indicates the frequency of page changes:
- Hourly – updates hourly;
- Always – always updated;
- Weekly – updated once a week;
- Daily – updates occur daily;
- Monthly – updates occur once a month;
- Yearly – once a year;
- Never – not updated (it is better not to use this value).
Priority tells search engines how important a page is compared to others. The priority can be set from 0.1 (low) to 1 (high).
The sitemap.xml file must contain a reference to the XML language namespace:
Xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
If the sitemap file includes more than 50 thousand links or the size of the sitemap.xml exceeds 10 MB, it is recommended to split the sitemap into several files. In this case, in the site map you need to indicate several links to different map files.
Tags that are already familiar to us are used here
- parent tag, which contains the addresses of all site maps; - a tag that contains parameters for each sitemap.
How to create Sitemap.xml
Creating a site map an important process in which it is necessary to clearly indicate which pages of the site need to be indexed and how best to index them. Depending on what type of site map we are talking about, different ways to create a site map. There is no point in discussing how to create an html sitemap separately. Let's look at how to make a map in xml file format. There are several basic ways to create a sitemap, but what they all have in common is where the sitemap is located and how the sitemap is determined by search engines.
As already written above - The sitemap file is located at the root of the site. Search engines are able to independently detect a sitemap file. But there are several ways to provide a direct link to the sitemap file(s) for faster discovery by search engines. The easiest way to specify the location of the sitemap file is to directly indicate a link or several links to sitemap files in the webmaster tools from Yandex and Google. There you can check sitemap, conduct analysis of the site map for correctness, correspondence of which pages from the site map are found by the search engine and how many of them are indexed.
The second way to point search engines to the location of a sitemap file is with the Sitemap directive in the robots.txt file.
Sitemap: http://site.ru/sitemap.xml
You can specify several sitemap files in robots.txt, after which it will automatically be added to webmaster tools. We've looked at how to find a sitemap, now let's move on to how to create a sitemap.
Basic ways to create a sitemap
- Generating a sitemap by the site management system, if the CMS has such a built-in capability.
- Download site map from a third-party online service. There are many online sitemap generators with different capabilities and limitations. Probably one of the most famous online sitemap generators is Sitemap Generator. It has quite a lot of functionality and will allow you to generate a sitemap for 1500 pages for free, which is quite a lot. There is also xml-sitemaps.com, which has the ability to customize sitemap parameters, but has a limit on the number of links in the sitemap.xml file of 500 pieces.
- Download sitemap generator. Such generator programs are usually paid, but with their help you can regularly generate sitemap xml for one or several sites. Here are a couple of examples of such generator programs: SiteMap XML Dynamic SiteMap Generator, WonderWebWare SiteMap Generator.
- Automatic creation of sitemap sitemap in Joomla (Jumla), WordPress (Wordpress), Bitrix (Bitrix), ModX.
- Creating a sitemap manually.
Sitemap WordPress
You can create a sitemap for WordPress using the Google XML Sitemaps plugin. For it, you can make many settings that will allow you to exclude some of the materials on your site, and you can also set the expected update frequency. In addition to creating a map, the Google XML Sitemaps plugin notifies many search engines when publishing new materials on your blog, inviting them to quickly index it.
You can set the path to the sitemap file yourself in the plugin settings and you can even give it a name different from the classic sitemap.xml.
Joomla sitemap
You can create a sitemap for Joomla using the Xmap component.
Check Sitemap for broken links
In order not to deceive the search robot, sitemap.xml must be configured without errors. Therefore, after each file update, you need to check the sitemap for broken links.
Go to Yandex Webmaster – section “Tools” – “Analysis of Sitemap files”.
Select one of the file upload methods:
- copy text sitmepa.xml;
- submit sitemap URL;
- upload xml file to the service.
Checking sitemap.xml in Yandex Webmaster
Analysis of Sitemap.xml from PixelPlus
If errors are found (this happens often), the service will tell you which URLs give an incorrect response (deleted, unnecessary, and so on).
Sitemap.xml is an important tool
A site map is one of the important tools for SEO website promotion. It doesn't matter how the sitemap is created. It is important which links will be listed in the sitemap and how often it will be updated. Sometimes, everything is uploaded to the sitemap, even those links that are prohibited in robots.txt or non-canonical links. And the sitemap is updated once a month or less. Such an attitude towards the site map can not only make it useless, but even worse - confuse the search robot, which will negatively affect the indexing and position of the site in the search.
Create a sitemap for your resource. But be careful and think carefully about what to upload to the sitemap and what not.
Sitemap XML Sitemap
A sitemap is a special file in .xml format stored in the root directory of the server. Website owners are often interested in why a Sitemap is needed and does the presence/absence of this document affect search engine promotion? To answer these questions, consider the purpose and structure of a sitemap.
So, why do you need an xml Sitemap, what is it? A site map is a kind of directory consisting of a list of links leading to all sections and pages of the site. The Sitemap file helps search engines index an Internet project more quickly and efficiently. This is especially important if the volume of a web resource amounts to thousands or tens of thousands of pages.
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It is important! Your sitemap should only include pages that need to be in the search index. Documents with prohibited indexing or proprietary information should not be included in the Sitemap. The sitemap also does not include tagged pages or dynamic URLs.
Does Sitemap affect promotion?
Search engines will not pessimize an Internet project for the absence of this file. Theoretically, the robot should independently crawl all the pages of the site and include them in the search. However, you need to take into account that the system may crash and not find some web documents. Typically, the “problem areas” are sections that can only be reached through a long chain of links, and dynamically generated URLs.
From an SEO perspective, a Sitemap has a certain impact because a sitemap speeds up indexing significantly. In addition, there is an increased likelihood that web pages will be indexed before unscrupulous competitors have time to copy and publish the content. Search engines give preference to the original source, while copy-paste is pessimized.
How to create a map website
The easiest way is to use one of the specialized services. For example, the online generator http://www.mysitemapgenerator.com/ allows you to create a sitemap of up to 500 pages for free. It is possible to generate paid Sitemaps without any restrictions. The webmaster will only need to indicate the address of his site, and then place the resulting file in the root folder of the server.
You can use the SiteMap Generator program. In the http:// field you should enter the address of the site’s start page, click on the “start” button and wait until the site map is generated. Then you need to go to the “Google Sitemap/XML” tab, copy the resulting code and paste it into a file in .xml format.
Sitemap xml file - available directives
- The Lastmod parameter tells the robot when the document was last updated.
- The priory tag indicates the priority of the document in relation to other pages on the site.
- The loc parameter denotes the URL address of the page.
- The changefreq tag is used to indicate that pages are dynamic (documents with the “0” parameter will be visited very rarely by the robot).
How to inform a search engine about a sitemap
To notify Yandex, you can add a sitemap directive to the robots.txt file. The code will look like this:
Sitemap: http://yoursite.ru/sitemap.xml
In addition, you can transfer a site map through the Yandex.Webmaster interface. To do this, you need to go to the “Indexing settings” >> “Sitemap files” tab, and then specify the sitemap address to the system.
You can notify Google in the same way. In the webmaster toolbar, go to the “Crawling” >> “Sitemaps” tab.
No matter how good your sense of direction is, it's always a good idea to have a map handy, right? It's the same with search engines. They may crawl your site themselves, but you can make their job easier by creating what's called a sitemap.
Essentially, sitemaps tell search engines like Google and Bing how your site is organized. This way, they can crawl and index your site more efficiently. Search engines are key to SEO strategy. And in this article we will tell you how and why you can customize your sitemap for WordPress.
What is a Site Map and what is its use?
To explain what a sitemap is, you need to know how search engines index the web. Search engines send scraping robots that follow all the links on the Internet. Every time they find a new link, the scrapers index a new page. And then this page can be found in a search engine.
Sitemaps speed up this process by providing search engine crawlers with a detailed map of your website. Instead of having to find internal links to all your content yourself, the scraper instantly knows the location of all the pages on your website.
Sitemaps are nothing less than a magic wand for SEO and will improve the indexing of your website.
They also provide search engines with additional information, such as the date the page was last updated, how often the page was changed, and its importance. This information can further help search engines optimize their exploration of your site.
XML vs HTML Sitemaps
XML sitemaps are the most common. They are exactly as we described above - created for search engines. Their data is of no use to people and you can only use it to improve indexing.
HTML sitemaps, on the other hand, can be used by both people and search engines. This is the actual page on your website where visitors and search engines can learn about the location of your content. Search engines will still be able to explore this page, but it will also appeal to curious visitors.
So which type should you use?
The answer is BOTH! You don't have to choose just one thing. They do not conflict and both bring benefits. If you don't believe us, then check out what a former Google SEO guru has to say about XML and HTML sitemaps:
How to Create an XML Sitemap in WordPress
Given the popularity of , there's a good chance you already have everything you need to create an XML sitemap. If you are using Yoast SEO, All in One SEO, or SEOPressor, then you just need to find the appropriate plugin settings to create your XML sitemap.
Yoast SEO
For example, to set up a sitemap in Yoast SEO, you just need to go to SEO → XML Sitemaps:
In Yoast SEO sitemap tools, you can enable media apps for your XML sitemap:
This will increase your image search traffic by increasing the indexing of your media downloads.
All in One SEO Pack
Creating an XML sitemap is similar in All in One SEO, just go to All in One SEO → XML Sitemap:
Google XML Sitemaps
If you don't have one of those plugins, or want to have additional control over your XML sitemap, then you can use the Google XML Sitemaps plugin. It is free and also available in the WordPress.org plugin repository.
After installing the plugin, you can configure it in Settings → XML-Sitemap:
Here's what you'll need to configure on this options page:
- Record priority: Set up recording scan priority calculation. The plugin can automatically calculate priority based on the number of comments, or you can do it manually.
- Sitemap content: Select the type of content that will go into your sitemap. For example, if you want to exclude the post archive category, then simply uncheck the box next to this field.
- Frequency of changes: Set the frequency of changes for each content type. This will give search engines the ability to prioritize crawling. For example, you want a page with frequent photo updates to be scanned daily.
- Priorities: You can manually set different scanning priorities for different content. You probably want to set the highest priority for the start page.
How to Create an HTML Sitemap with WordPress
To create an HTML sitemap, you need to use a special plugin. It's called WP Sitemap Page and is available for free on WordPress.org.
WP Sitemap Page
After installing the plugin, you can start configuring it in Settings → WP Sitemap Page:
You can exclude certain types of posts, choose how post titles are displayed, and choose whether or not to show posts that belong to multiple categories.
You can add a sitemap to any page using a shortcode. The plugin contains many custom shortcodes that allow you to display only pages, tags, categories, etc. You can also customize sorting options.
It's a good idea to place the shortcode in a section accessible from the footer. This way people and search engines can find it quickly, but it won't take up space in the menu.
How to Tell Search Engines About Your XML Sitemap
Once you've created your sitemap, there's only one thing left to do - tell search engines where they can find it.
By showing search engines where you store your sitemap, you can ensure they find it and are aware of any changes to your site.
To submit your sitemap to Google, you need to register with Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) and follow their instructions.
Results
Sitemaps are a quick and easy way to improve your website. By creating an XML sitemap, you will make it easier for search engines to explore your content. And with an HTML sitemap, you can not only improve your website's search engine friendliness, but also satisfy curious users.
You absolutely must create an XML sitemap at a minimum, but if you have time, we recommend adding an HTML sitemap as well.
Have you already created a sitemap? Tell us in the comments!
