How To Create A Sitemap For Your WordPress Blog?
How To Create A Sitemap For Your WordPress Blog: Having a sitemap for your blog or website is of utmost importance. Here, I am talking about XML sitemap which I have explained in this post.
As I have said, an XML sitemap is a map of your site or blog. So, it lists and provides information about all types of contents in your site, like images, posts, videos, pages, tags, categories, etc. It also has information about how they are related. As a result, it easier for search engines like Google to crawl your website, go deeper into it, gather all the necessary information.
Basically, creating an XML sitemap is important mainly for search engines to easily access your site. But that doesn’t guarantee that your site will be indexed. Anyway, you should have an XML sitemap for your blog. So, in this article, I will tell you how to create a sitemap for your WordPress Blog. Read on to find out.
How To Create A Sitemap For Your WordPress Blog?
There are many different ways to create sitemaps. But this article will cover one of the easiest methods to create an XML sitemap for your blog.
In this method, we will be using Yoast SEO Plugin, which is available for free (they do have a premium plan as well).
Find Out How To Set Up Yoast SEO Plugin In WordPress Here
At this point, it is important to note that this plugin which is recommended by most of the top bloggers is useful not only to create sitemaps but for a wide range of other SEO related activities. So, you must install this plugin.
The next section will cover step-by-step guide to create your sitemap right from installing Yoast SEO Plugin.
- Step 1: Login to your WordPress dashboard.
- Step 2: Click on “Plugins”.
- Step 3: Click on “Add New”.
- Step 4: Type in “Yoast SEO” in the search box.
- Step 5: Once the plugin box appears, click on “Install Now”.
- Step 6: Once it is installed, click on “Activate”.
- Step 7: Now click on “SEO” from the left side of WordPress dashboard.
- Step 8: Click on “General”.
- Step 9: Go to “Features” tab.
- Step 10: Scroll down. You will see “XML Sitemaps”. Click it on.
- Step 11: Come down and click on “Save Changes”.
- Step 12: Now, click on the question mark (?) on the right side of “XML Sitemaps”.
- Step 13: Click on “See the XML sitemap”. The XML sitemap for your blog will appear on the screen.
Find Out Why XML Sitemaps Are Important For Your Blog Here
What To Do Next?
So, now you have created the sitemap for your blog. Are you done?
No, you have to decide on which particular types of content you want search engines to crawl and index.
Usually, we do not want search engines to index the following and show them in SERP:
- Author archives for single author blog
- Thank you page
- Tag archives
- Category archives
- Legal page, etc.
So, you can change the settings by going to “Search Appearance” under “SEO” from the left side of WordPress dashboard. The different types of contents are available under “Content Types”, “Taxonomies” and “Archives” tabs. Just go to the tabs and click the toggle on or off depending upon what you want for the respective types.
How To Submit The Sitemap To Google?
So, you have created the XML sitemap and made the necessary changes. The next thing to do is tell Google (or any other search engines) to crawl it. For that you need to submit the sitemap to Google. To do that, follow the steps as under:
- Step 1: Login to your “Google Search Console” account.
- Step 2: Select your site.
- Step 3: If you are using the older version, click on “Crawl” from the left side of the screen and then click on “Sitemaps”. If you are using the new version, click on “Sitemaps” from the left site of the screen.
- Step 4: Now, click on “Add/Test Sitemap” for older version and “Add a new sitemap” for newer version, and enter “sitemap_index.xml”.
- Step 5: Click on “Submit”.
That’s it.
Find Out How To Set Up Google Search Console For Your Website Here
Google will now crawl your website – whatever you want it to crawl. However, indexing may take time. So, you have nothing to worry about if you are writing quality content.
I hope I have been able to explain how to create a sitemap for your WordPress blog. If you have any query regarding how to create a sitemap for your WordPress blog using Yoast SEO Plugin, reach out to me. I will reply as soon as possible.