Why You Should Create an XML Sitemap

The addition of a sitemap won't impact search rankings. However, a sitemap allows search engines to find pages that have not been indexed.

Search Engines Help You Discover Your Content

Sitemaps can be useful for those who are just starting a blog or creating a website. This is because many websites don't have backlinks. Search engines are unable to find all the new content due to a lack of backlinks.

Google and Bing allow website owners to submit sitemaps in their webmaster Tools. This allows search engine bots to index the most recent content published on websites.

Now that you're familiar with the reason for sitemaps, it might be time to learn how to make one. First, let me explain the WordPress sitemap that is automatically generated and why it is a good idea for you to create one.

WordPress automatically generates sitemaps. These include your posts, post types, categories, tags, as well as archive pages.

You might also have to include anything that you may not have indexed so that it doesn’t cause issues on your site. Without PHP code, there's no way you can customize the default WordPress sitemap.

If you aren't sure coding is right for you, then I have the perfect solution.

Accessing Your XML Sitemap

Let's start by making sure you have access to your XML Sitemap.

Click Sitemaps in the AIO SEO Menu. The plugin offers this feature as a menu item.

More Resources:

How to Submit a Sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools
Submit A Sitemap

How does the index page look like in your XML sitemap?

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Natsea Premium
Thank you Israel for this info. I have a question for you. I submitted sitemaps in my GSC and also Bing webmaster. In Bing is still there and I dont have to resubmit it again. However in GSC after time, is showing me 0 urls in sitemaps and I have to submit it again. And it is repeating. Is it normal or something is wrong?
Thank you so much for your answer.
Nat
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Israel17 Premium
@Natsea
Oh, sorry for my late reply, Nat! Which of Rankmath, AIOSEO, and Yoast SEO are you currently using? Let me know and I will suggest a solution. Thanks!

Israel Olatunji
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Natsea Premium
@Israel17
Hello Israel. No problem. I'm using AIOSEO, but this will be replaced based on Kyle's blog. For now it is still there. Lets see.
Thank you
Nat
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JKulk1 Premium
Hi Israel. Thanks for this training on site maps. I'm currently having trouble verifying my latest site. I've forgotten how you do this. One training segments says to copy the html code from Google site Console into WordPress homepage, but In can't find where on my home page to place it. Jim
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Israel17 Premium
@JKulk1
Glad you read my Sitemap creation tutorial, Jim! Are you on AIO SEO? If yes, you aren't going to copy any HTML anymore. It's now made easier with AIO SEO. You won't ever need to copy any code. You just need to rework your AIO SEO Sitemap settings, and you're good to go.

Israel Olatunji
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BrightSales Premium
I appreciate this training friend. I just want to let you know that as for the URLs max it is not 1,000 for each Sitemap which you've stated on lesson 4 here. It is 50,000 URLs max for each Sitemap. After the 50,000 max, then you will have to break them up. Unless, you meant something else. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.
All the best!
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Israel17 Premium
@BrightSales
Hey Bright, what warrants setting a limit of 1000 URLs per sitemap page is that search engines find it difficult to crawl when each sitemap page is set above this limit. And that's the essence of creating this tutorial. Thanks for reading!

Remain bright!

Israel
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BrightSales Premium
@Israel17
I have searched everywhere on Google friend, and I can't find where it says that the search engines find it difficult to crawl above 1000 URLs. Can you point to your source of info? I want to remain bright. Lol!. Thanks.
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Israel17 Premium
@BrightSales
Hey Bright, while it's a maximum of 50,000 URLs per sitemap page, it's only a suggestion by AIO SEO to split the sitemap into pages, with a max of 1000 URLs per page. While this is an AIO SEO's suggestion as shown in the image attached, you're, however, free to set yours to a max of 50,000 URLs per page. Did you get it?

AIO SEO further advises that you can leave this setting to a maximum of 50,000 URLs. You may only have to reduce the number if it's taking longer to view sitemap pages.

Once again, Bright, it's not a rule or a law to set each sitemap page to 1000 URLs. You may only have to do that for the ease of viewing sitemap pages.

I'm following AIO SEO's suggestion because I trust their SEO advice. 2,000,000+ people can't be wrong, I think.

Israel Olatunji
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BrightSales Premium
@Israel17
I was reading about sitemap limits on various sources and found out that the old data for Sitemap limit was 1000 URLs. Since then, it was changed to 50,000 URLs. I was simply asking why 1000 URLs and not 2000, 3000, 4000? But as I see, AIO SEO only suggested that. I guess I was focusing too much on your "should contain no more than 1000 URLs" part of the blog. But I get it now. Point taken friend. All the best!
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Israel17 Premium
@BrightSales
Oh, sorry I got you confused, Bright! Thanks for getting back!

Israel Olatunji
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RCanty Premium Plus
Very helpful information! I ran into Sitemap issues a few days ago and this info would have come in handy. Good to see it out there now.

Canty
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Israel17 Premium
@RCanty
Glad it came in handy, Canty! Much appreciated, my friend!

Israel Olatunji
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Aussiemuso Premium Plus
I always wondered about this Israel.
Thanks for clearing up some points for me.

Lily
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Israel17 Premium
@Aussiemuso
Most welcome, Lily! Glad you found it helpful! Creating a sitemap is crucial for SEO. Thanks again!

Israel Olatunji
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