Running a website involves many tasks to increase traffic and improve search engine visibility. Among these, creating and submitting a sitemap is crucial! Simply put, a sitemap is like a 'map' that helps search engines better understand the structure and content of your site. Today, I'll explain how to easily create and submit a sitemap on WordPress.
Sitemap Generation
Using Rank Math Plugin
Using the Rank Math plugin makes sitemap creation straightforward. Once you've installed the plugin, it automatically generates a sitemap. You can check the sitemap URL in the form of example.com/sitemap_index.xml in the plugin settings. You can easily create a good sitemap with just the basic settings!
Using Yoast SEO Plugin
Yoast SEO is also one of the most popular plugins among WordPress users. After installing the plugin, navigate to Plugins > Yoast SEO > Settings > Features to activate the XML sitemap feature. Like Rank Math, it automatically generates and uploads a sitemap to your site’s root directory.
Default WordPress Sitemap
WordPress itself offers a sitemap. Without any special settings, you can have a default sitemap in the format example.com/sitemap.xml. Simple, isn’t it?
Sitemap Submission
Submitting to Google Search Console
To submit a sitemap to Google Search Console, your site must first be registered. After registration, click Sitemaps in the left menu, enter the sitemap URL, and submit. Once submitted, Google will fetch the sitemap, and after a few hours or a day, you can check if it’s registered correctly.
Submitting to Naver Webmaster Tools
Similarly, Naver allows sitemap submission via its Webmaster Tools. Click Request > Submit Sitemap, enter the sitemap URL, and submit. Like Google, you can check the registration status through the submitted sitemap URL.
Additional Steps
Checking the Sitemap
Before submitting the sitemap, ensure it’s properly generated. It’s helpful to enter the sitemap URL directly in your browser and check if the structure displays well.
Using External Tools
If you’re not using plugins, you can use external tools like www.xml-sitemaps.com to generate sitemaps. In this case, download the sitemap from the tool and directly upload it to your website’s root directory.
By properly creating and submitting a sitemap, search engines can identify your site more efficiently, ultimately aiding in traffic increase and SEO optimization! Always keep it up-to-date to not miss out!
