What is a XML site map? How do I create a site map in WordPress?

Do you want to know what a XML site map is and how to add it to your WordPress site? XML site maps help search engines easily browse the content of your site. It provides them with a list of all your content in a machine-readable format.

In this article, we will explain what a XML site map is and how to easily create a site map in WordPress.

What is a XML site map?

A XML sitemap is a file that lists all site content in XML format, so search engines such as Google can easily find and index your content.

As early as the early 2000s, there was a link called “site map” on the home page of the government website. This page usually contains a list of all pages on the site.

Although some sites still have HTML site maps today, the overall use of site maps has changed over the years.

Today, sitemaps are published in XML format rather than HTML format, and the target audience is search engines, not people.

Basically, XML sitemaps are a way for site owners to tell search engines all the pages that exist on their sites.

It also tells search engines which links on your site are more important than others, and how often you update your site.

Although XML sitemaps do not improve your search engine rankings, they allow search engines to better crawl your site. This means they can find more content and start displaying it in search results, resulting in more search traffic and higher SEO rankings.

Why do you need a XML site map

From a search engine optimization (SEO) perspective, site maps are very important.

Simply adding a site map will not affect your search ranking. However, if a page on your site is not indexed, the site map will let the search engine know about the page.

Site maps are useful when you start blogging or creating new sites for the first time, because most new sites don’t have any backlinks. This makes it harder for search engines to find all your content.

That’s why search engines like Google and Bing allow new site owners to submit site maps in their webmaster tools. This makes it easy for their search engine robots to find your content and index it (more on that later).

Sitemaps are also important for established popular websites. They allow you to highlight which parts of the site are more important and which are updated more frequently so that search engines can index your content accordingly.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to create a XML site map in WordPress.

There are several ways to create a XML site map in WordPress. We’ll show you three popular ways to create XML site maps in WordPress. We will also show you how to submit your site maps to search engines and use them to develop your site.

• Method 1. Create a XML site map in WordPress without a plug-in
• Method 2. Use AIOSEO to create a XML site map in WordPress
• Method 3. Use Yoast SEO to create a XML site map in WordPress
• Submit your XML site map to the search engine
• Use XML site maps to develop your site

Method 1. Create a XML site map in WordPress without a plug-in

This approach is very basic and limited in terms of functionality.

WordPress didn’t have a built-in site map until August 2020. However, in WordPress 5.5, they released a basic XML sitemap feature.

This feature allows you to automatically create XML site maps in WordPress without using plug-ins.wp-sitemap.xmlYou can simply add it at the end of the domain name, as follows:

WordPress will show you the default XML site map.

This XML site map feature has been added to WordPress to ensure that any new WordPress site does not miss the SEO advantage of XML site maps.

However, it is not very flexible, and you cannot easily control what is added or removed from the XML site map.

Fortunately, almost all top-level WordPress SEO plug-ins come with their own site map capabilities. These site maps are better, and you can control what is removed or excluded from the WordPress XML site map.

Method 2. Use AIOSEO to create a XML site map in WordPress

The easiest way to create a XML site map in WordPress is to use the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plug-in for WordPress.

It is the best WordPress SEO plug-in on the market and provides you with a comprehensive set of tools to optimize your SEO blog posts.

First, you need to install and activate the All in One SEO plug-in. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install the WordPress plug-in.

The free version of AIOSEO also provides site map functionality. However, to get advanced news site maps and video site maps, you need a professional version.

Once activated, go to the All in One SEO »Sitemaps page to view the site map settings.

By default, All in One SEO enables the site map feature for you and replaces the basic WordPress site map.

You can click the Open site Map button to preview to see what it looks like. You can also view your site map through the URL added to your sitesitemap.xmlFor example:

As a beginner, you don’t need to do anything, because the default settings apply to all types of websites, blogs, and online stores.

However, you can customize site map settings to control what is included in the XML site map.

Just scroll down to the site map setup section.

This section provides you with the option of managing site map indexes and including or excluding post types and taxonomies (categories and tags). You can also enable XML sitemaps for date-based and author archives.

All-in-one SEO automatically includes all your WordPress content in the XML site map. But what if you have a separate page that is not part of WordPress, such as a contact form, login page, or Shopify store page?

Well, AIOSEO is the only plug-in that allows you to add external pages to your WordPress site map. Just scroll to the additional page section and open it. This will show you a form to which you can add any custom page you want to include.

You just need to add the URL of the page you want to include, and then set the priority, where 0.0 is the lowest and 1.0 is the highest, and if you’re not sure, we recommend using 0.3.

Next, select the update frequency and the last modification date of the page.

If you need to add more pages, you can click the add New button.

Don’t forget to click the Save changes button to save your settings.

Exclude specific posts and pages from the XML site map

All-in-one SEO allows you to exclude any post or page from the XML site map. You can do this by clicking the Advanced Settings section under the all-in-one SEO »site Map page.

You can also remove a post or page from the XML site map by making it indexed and unfollowed. This prevents the search engine from displaying the content in the search results.

Simply edit the post or page you want to exclude and scroll down to the AIOSEO settings box below the editor.

From here you need to switch to the Advanced tab and check the boxes next to the No Index and No attention options.

Create an additional site map

All-in-one SEO allows you to create other site maps, such as video or news site maps.

If you regularly embed videos in blog posts or pages, you can create a video sitemap. This will allow search engines to display posts and video thumbnails in search and video search results.

If you run a news site and want to appear in Google news search results, you can also create a news sitemap.

Just go to All in One SEO »Sitemaps and switch to the Video Sitemap or News Sitemap tab to generate these site maps.

Overall, AIOSEO is the best WordPress plug-in because it gives you all the flexibility and power at a very affordable price.

Method 3. Use Yoast SEO to create a XML site map in WordPress

If you use Yoast SEO as your WordPress SEO plug-in, it will also automatically open the XML site map for you.

First, you need to install and activate the Yoast SEO plug-in. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install the WordPress plug-in.

Once activated, go to the SEO »general page and switch to the Features tab. From here, you need to scroll down to the XML site Map option and make sure it is turned on.

Next, click the Save changes button to store your changes.

To verify that Yoast SEO has created a XML site map, click the question mark icon next to the XML site map option on the page.

Then click the View XML site Map link to view the real-time XML site map generated by Yoast SEO.

sitemap_index.xmlYou can also find your XML site map by simply adding it to the end of your site address. For example:

Yoast SEO creates multiple site maps for different types of content. By default, it generates site maps for posts, pages, authors, and categories.

Submit your XML site map to the search engine

Search engines are very clever at finding site maps. Every time you post new content, a ping is sent to Google and Bing to notify them that your site map has changed.

However, we recommend that you manually submit the site map to ensure that the search engine can find it.

Submit your XML site map to Google

Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google to help website owners monitor and maintain the display of their websites in Google search results.

Adding your site map to Google Search Console helps it quickly discover your content, even if your site is brand new.

First, you need to visit the Google Search Console website and sign up for an account.

After that, you are asked to select an attribute type. You can choose a domain or URL prefix. We recommend choosing the URL prefix because it is easier to set.

Enter the URL for your website and click the continue button.

Next, you will be asked to verify the ownership of the website. You will see a variety of ways to do this, and we recommend using the HTML tagging method.

Just copy the code on the screen and go to the administrative area of your WordPress site.

If you are using AIOSEO, it comes with simple webmaster tool validation. Just go to All in One SEO »General Settings and click the Webmaster Tools tab. You can then enter the code from Google there.

If you do not use AIOSEO, you can enter code using the WPCode plug-in. This is the safest and easiest way to add code to your WordPress site.

You need to install and activate WPCode Free Plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install the WordPress plug-in.

Once activated, you need to access the code snippet »header and footer pages and add the code you copied earlier to the header box.

Don’t forget to click the Save changes button to save your changes.

Now, switch back to the Google Search Console tab and click the verify button.

Google will check the CAPTCHA on your website and add it to your Google Search Console account.

Note: if the verification is not successful, be sure to clear the cache and try again.

Now that you have added your site, let’s add your XML sitemap as well.

In your account dashboard, you need to click site Map in the left column.

After that, you need to add the last part of the site map URL under the add New site Map section, and then click the submit button.

Google will now add your site map URL to your Google Search Console.

Google needs some time to crawl your website. After a while, you will be able to see basic site map statistics.

This information includes the number of links Google finds in your site map, how many of them are indexed, the ratio of images to web pages, and so on.

Submit your XML site map to Bing

Similar to Google Search Console, Bing also provides Bing Webmaster Tools to help website owners monitor their sites in the Bing search engine.

To add your site map to Bing, you need to visit the Bing webmaster tools website. Here, you will see two options for adding a site. You can import your site from Google Search Console or add it manually.

If you have added a site to Google Search Console, we recommend importing it into your site. It saves time because your site map will be automatically imported for you.

If you choose to add the site manually, you need to enter the URL of the site and verify the site.

Bing will now ask you to verify the ownership of the site and will show you several verification methods.

We recommend using the Meta tagging method. Just copy the meta tag line from the page and go to your WordPress management area.

Now install and activate the WPCode free plug-in on your website

Once activated, you need to access the code snippet »header and footer pages and add the code you copied earlier to the header box.

Don’t forget to click the Save changes button to save your changes.

Use XML site maps to develop your site

Now that you have submitted the XML site map to Google and Bing, let’s see how it can be used for your site.

First of all, you need to remember that XML sitemaps will not improve your search rankings. However, it does help search engines find content, adjust crawling speed, and increase your site’s visibility in search engines.

You need to pay close attention to the site map statistics in Google Search Console. It can show you crawl errors and pages excluded from the search scope.

At the bottom of the chart, you can click the table to see which actual URL has been excluded or not indexed by Google.

In general, Google may decide to skip pages with duplicate content, pages with no or little content, and pages that are excluded by your site’s robots.txt files or meta tags.

However, if you have an unusually large number of exclusion pages, you may need to check your SEO plug-in settings to make sure you are not blocking anything.

For more information, see our complete Google Search Console guide for beginners.

We hope this article will help you understand XML site maps and how to create XML site maps for your WordPress site.