My name is Javir Chiva, I've been working as a web developer specialising in WordPress more than 5 years and let me tell you that like you, I also understand the importance of optimising every aspect of a website to ensure its effectiveness and performance.
One of the essential elements to improve SEO and ensure proper indexing by search engines is the sitemap.
In this post, I will guide you through the essential steps to create a sitemap in WordPress, especially for beginners looking to improve the visibility of their site.
What is a Sitemap and Why is it Important?
A sitemap is essentially a map of your website that helps search engines understand the structure of your site.
Think of it as a book index showing all the pages and their relationship to each other, but in the form of an XML file.
Why is this important? For several reasons:
Improved indexing
By providing a sitemap to search engines, you make it easier for them to crawl your site. This is especially crucial for large sites with many pages or new and frequent content that may go unnoticed without a sitemap.
Identifying relevant content
A sitemap allows you to prioritise certain pages of your website, telling search engines which pages you consider most important for search results.
Navigation assistance
Although primarily a tool for search engines, a well-structured sitemap can also improve the user experience by facilitating navigation and accessibility of information on your site.
Creating and keeping your sitemap up to date is a fundamental practice in the management of any website, particularly if you are looking to optimise your visibility and ranking in search engines.
Step-by-Step to Create a WordPress Sitemap
Creating a sitemap in WordPress is easier than many people think, thanks to the variety of tools and plugins available that automate this process.
Here's how you can do it in a simple way:
Choosing the Right Plugin
The first thing is to select a plugin that suits your needs.
There are several popular and effective WordPress plugins for creating sitemaps, such as Yoast SEO, Google XML Sitemaps y All in One SEO.
These plugins not only help you generate the sitemap automatically but also offer you options to customise it to your site's specific needs.
Plugin Installation and Configuration
Once you have chosen your plugin, proceed with the installation:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to 'Plugins' > 'Add new'.
- Search for the plugin by name, install it and then activate it.
After activating the plugin, you must configure it to generate your sitemap:
- Access the plugin settings from the WordPress menu.
- Look for the sitemap section and make sure it is enabled.
- Set opt-in or opt-out preferences for certain pages or types of posts as needed.
Sitemap Verification and Testing
Once you have created your Sitemap, it is important to check that everything is working properly:
- Visit your sitemap URL (usually something like
tusitio.com/sitemap.xml). - Check that all important URLs on your site are listed and that the formatting is correct.
- Use tools like Google Search Console to submit your sitemap to Google and monitor how your site is indexed.
These steps will ensure that your sitemap is not only set up correctly, but that it is also recognised and used by search engines to improve the indexing of your site.
Tips for Keeping your Sitemap up to date
Keeping your sitemap up to date is crucial to ensure that search engines always have the latest information about your site.
Here are some tips on how to do it effectively:
Automatic Update with Plugins
Most WordPress sitemap plugins automatically update the sitemap every time you publish new content or modify existing content. Make sure this feature is enabled in your plugin's settings.
Regular Sitemap Review
Although plugins do a lot of the work, it is good practice to check your sitemap manually from time to time to ensure that everything is working as expected. This is especially important if you make significant changes to your site structure.
Remove obsolete URLs
If you remove pages or posts, make sure they do not appear in your sitemap. Some plugins allow you to exclude specific URLs manually if they are not removed automatically.
Optimise Sitemap Structure
Depending on the size of your site, it may be useful to split your sitemap into multiple smaller sitemaps, categorised by content type (such as pages, posts, products, etc.). This can make the indexing process more efficient for search engines.
Using Google Search Console
Use tools like Google Search Console to monitor how Google is indexing your site based on your sitemap. This can clue you in to any issues you need to fix and confirm that your sitemap is being used effectively.
Implementing these tips will ensure that your Sitemap always reflects the current structure of your website and continues to be an effective tool for improving your SEO.
Common Problems and Solutions when Creating Sitemaps
Creating and maintaining a Sitemap can present challenges, especially when managing large or complex sites. Here are some of the most common problems and their solutions:
Sitemap does not update automatically
Make sure your sitemap plugin is configured to automatically update the sitemap every time new content is published.
If the problem persists, consider switching to a more reliable plugin or contacting technical support for the plugin you are using.
URLs blocked by robots.txt file
Check your robots.txt file to make sure you are not accidentally blocking access to URLs that should be in the sitemap.
If you encounter rules that block these URLs, modify the robots.txt file accordingly.
Sitemap too big
If your Sitemap becomes too large (Google imposes a limit of 50,000 URLs per Sitemap), you can split it into several smaller Sitemaps.
Many plugins offer an option to automatically segment the sitemap based on content type, number of entries, etc.
Broken URLs in the sitemap
Use tools like Google Search Console to identify and fix broken URLs in your sitemap.
Be sure to remove or fix broken links and update the sitemap accordingly to avoid sending search engines to pages that do not exist.
Sitemap not indexed by search engines
Make sure to submit your sitemap through Google Search Console and other relevant webmaster tools.
Regularly check the indexing status of these tools and follow the recommendations they provide to improve indexing.
These tips and solutions will help you handle the most common challenges related to sitemaps, ensuring that your website is efficiently indexed and crawled by search engines.
