In this video, I explain what an XML Sitemap is and how you can create on in WordPress easily. No programming required!
Video Transcription:
Hi. In this video, I’m going to explain what an XML sitemap is and how to create one easily on your WordPress website.
First, what is an XML sitemap?
XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. But, don’t let that confuse you.
An XML sitemap simply shows all of the pages that are listed on your website.
Search engines use this sitemap to know how many pages you have on your site, where they are located, how often these pages are updated, etc. If you have a website, this is required if you want it to be effective in ranking in the search engine results.
The file for your XML sitemap is typically called “sitemap.xml” For example, on our website, the XML sitemap can be found here: https://graticle.com/sitemap.xml
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s see how to create an XML sitemap on your WordPress website.
How to Create an XML Sitemap in WordPress
We’re going to make this extremely simple by using a third-party plugin.
Yep, no programming.
Let’s go ahead and look at our WordPress website.
Go ahead and log in to your website.
Hover over ‘Plugins’, click ‘Add New.’
We’re going to use a plugin called Google XML Sitemaps created by Arne Brachhold. As with most plugins for WordPress, there are many options, but this plugin is the most straight-forward and comprehensive XML sitemap plugin we’ve found.
Go to the search area. Type in ‘Google XML Sitemaps,’ and you’ll see is listed first.
Click ‘Install Now.’ Click ‘Activate.’
You’ll see it activated here.
Click ‘Settings.’
Feel free to browse through the various settings to customize it how you like, but it’s already ready to go. You don’t have to change a thing.
Click this link to view your brand new sitemap.xml.
The best part about this plugin? As you create pages in the future, the sitemap is automatically updated and as you can see here, the search engines are notified each time you update your website.
An XML Sitemap isn’t the most exciting thing you’ll see all day, but this solid step in the right direction to improving your website.
We’re done.
We now have an XML Sitemap created on your WordPress website.
Need more help? Give us a call at (360) 450-3711 or visit our website at graticle.com and we’ll be glad to help.
Thanks for watching.
