You’ve built your website, added some great content and hit publish – but then… crickets. If Google doesn’t know your pages exist, no one else will either. You need a sitemap.

In this post, we’ll show you what a sitemap is, how sitemaps work, setting one up and telling search engines like Google about yours. If you’ve got a WordPress site, an ecommerce shop, a blog, or a small business website, this is for you.

 

 

Hi again! In our last post, we showed you how to set up Google Search Console from scratch.

Today, we’re tackling something called a sitemap. If you’ve heard the term and thought that it sounds too technical, don’t worry. This is one of the quickest wins you can get in SEO. By the end of this, you’ll not only know what a sitemap is, but how to set one up and use it to improve your chances of getting ranked byin the search engines.

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WHAT IS A SITEMAP?

To put it simply, a sitemap is a list of the pages you want search engines to find on your website. That’s it.

It lives in a special file, usually called sitemap.xml, and it’s purpose is to tell a search engine a list of pages on your site, when those pages were last updated, sometimes alternative language versions and the types of content – like videos, images or news articles.

It doesn’t guarantee a listing in search engines, but it gives search engines like Google and Bing a nudge in the right direction to discover your website in the most efficient way. 

DO I NEED A SITEMAP?

Not every site needs a sitemap. If you’ve got a small website with a handful of pages which don’t change often and good internal links and navigation, search engines will probably find everything just fine on their own… eventually.

But there are times when a sitemap can make a real difference:

• Maybe your site’s grown over the years – hundreds or even thousands of pages, and you want to be sure Google’s seeing them all.
• Or maybe some of those pages aren’t well linked from your menus or internal navigation, so they’re easily missed.
• You might be adding or changing content all the time – running a blog, a news site, or an online shop – and you want those updates picked up fast.
• Or perhaps your site is brand new and barely showing up in search results at all.

If any of those sound like you, then a sitemap is a no-brainer.

HOW TO MAKE A SITEMAP

If you’re using WordPress version 5.5 onwards, Shopify, Squarespace or Wix without any SEO plugins then good news: your sitemap is already set up.

But if you’ve installed an SEO plugin like RankMath or Yoast then they’ll allow finer control over your sitemaps so you can customize. For example, excludesuch as excluding non-relevant automatically generated pages

Now these files aren’t static, they change constantly – add a new page to your site and it’ll get added to that list of pages in your sitemap automatically.

Typically the filename should always be sitemap.xml, however some CMS systems don’t all always follow standards so you might find them in different locations, here is a list.

CMS	Default filename
WordPress 5.5+	example.com/wp-sitemap.xml
WordPress + RankMath	example.com/sitemap_index.xml
WordPress + Yoast SEO	example.com/sitemap_index.xml
Shopify	example.com/ sitemap.xml
Squarespace	example.com/sitemap.xml
Wix	example.com/sitemap.xml
Magento 2	example.com/sitemap.xml
Drupal + Simple XML Sitemap	example.com/sitemap.xml
Joomla + OSMap	example.com/sitemap.xml

 

If your site is built manually or you’re on something custom, there are online sitemap generators such as xml-sitemaps.com which can help you out – remember though that you’ll need to run this process every time you update your site with new pages.

SUBMITTING YOUR SITEMAP TO SEARCH CONSOLE

You have your sitemap, the next step is to submit it to search engines. 

1. First up sign into your Google Search Console account at https://search.google.com/search-console , we covered setting up your account in the previous video.
2. Choose your website property
3. On the sidebar, under the Index section click “Sitemaps”
4. In the box for Add a new sitemap just paste in the full sitemap URL path – that’s everything including the https:// 
5. Click Submit and that’s it!

While you’re in a submitting mood, don’t forget that Google isn’t the only search engine that matters. Bing has their own Webmaster Tools – and it’s worth setting up.

We covered this in the previous video, and some AI services like ChatGPT use Bing to fetch real-time data. So registering your site here could help you surface in more places.

1. Once you’re in the Bing Webmaster Tools dashboard found at bing.com/webmasters select your site property.
2. In the sidebar, click “Sitemaps” then click the Submit Sitemap property.
3. Paste your full sitemap URL, including https:// and hit Submit.
4. And that’s it! You’ve now officially told Bing where to find your content.

You might need to wait a few minutes after submitting it before it shows up on the list.

UNDERSTANDING THE SITEMAPS REPORT

Once you’ve submitted your sitemap, the reports in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools shows you:

• The date it was submitted
• The last time the search engine fetched it
• Whether it was successful or had issues
• How many URLs were discovered

Clicking the sitemaps in that list gives you the option to remove the file and try again if you’re having problems. Also note you can submit multiple sitemap sites, these include ones for news pages, images and videos.

 

COMMON ERRORS & TROUBLESHOOTING

Here are a few of the common issues that can trip people up:

Sitemap not found

This is a very popular one, so double-check the URL. Make sure it’s live – if you got the address wrong then submit and try again..

Blocked by robots.txt

There is another common file for search engines called robots.txt, it includes instructions on which parts of your site shouldn’t be crawled by search engines – think of it like the opposite of a sitemap. It’s common to see this file used to block access during site development or pre-launch phases. 

But if those rules are still in place after launch, it could be preventing your sitemap from being seen.

Too many URLs

If you’ve got more than 50,000 URLs then you’ll need to split your sitemap and use a sitemap index file to keep things organised. 

When your site reaches this level of scale, SEO becomes more than just a checklist – it turns into a strategic operation.

If you’re juggling tens of thousands of URLs, a fresh perspective from a team who lives and breathes SEO can save you time, traffic, and technical headaches. Reach out to us at show@wearegenessee.com – we’re here to help you stay ahead of the curve and make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

 

 WHAT IF MY PAGES STILL AREN’T GETTING INDEXED?

You might be wondering why your pages still aren’t appearing in search engine results – even after submitting a sitemap and checking everything off your list. Well, this happens – and more often than you might think.

Just because a page appears in your sitemap doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed a spot in the search index. A sitemap is more of a helpful nudge – it tells search engines, “Here’s what I’ve got,” so they don’t have to go digging. But whether they choose to include that page in their results is an entirely separate matter, based on how they interpret your website’swebsites value and relevance.

If you’ve submitted a URL and it still isn’t showing up after some time, here are a few common issues that could be standing in your way:

Thin, Duplicate, or Low-Quality Content

If your page lacks substance, repeats what’s already published elsewhere, or fails to provide unique value, search engines may simply choose to ignore it. Even if your content is accurate and technically sound, it needs to offer a clear benefit – something that sets it apart from the hundreds of similar pages competing for attention.

Orphaned Pages

If no other pages on your site link to it, it’s referred to as an ‘orphaned page’, and it’s harder for search engines to discover and prioritise. Internal linking doesn’t just help users navigate – it tells search engines “this is important enough for several pages to link to it”. When a page is completely disconnected, it loses those important internal endorsements.

Blocked, Redirected, or Marked Noindex

There are several technical roadblocks that can prevent a page from appearing in search – beyond the scope of this video. These technical reasons often get left behind after site migrations, redesigns, or rushed development – so it’s worth auditing them regularly.

All of these factors – plus how to spot and fix them – will be covered in more detail in our upcoming Page Indexing Report video. 

 

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So that’s sitemaps, made simple:

• They help Google discover your content
• They’re easy to set up, especially with the right tools
• And while they don’t guarantee indexing, they certainly help.

If you’re feeling unsure, or if your sitemap is throwing up errors – drop us an email at show@wearegenessee.com – we’d love to help.

And if this saved you time, hit like, subscribe and drop a comment. We read them all.

In our next post we’ll cover how to use Search Console to find and fix 404 errors before your customers do. This is especially important if you’ve recently launched or migrated a website. Because one broken link might cost you traffic, sales, or both.

So if you’re running a business and you’re ready to get serious about your visibility head to wearegenessee.com and let’s have a chat.

Remember, we’re here to make sure when people search they find your business – and choose your business. See you in the next video!