What is a Site-map? A Guide to Creating, Updating Site-map in GSC

I. What is a Site-map?

A site-map is an XML file that lists the important pages on your website. It helps search engines like Google understand the structure of your website and crawl it more efficiently. The site-map includes all relevant URLs, such as your main pages, sub-pages, and updated content.

There are two common types of site-maps:

• HTML Site-map: Created for users to navigate the website easily.
• XML Site-map: Made for search engines to crawl and index your content.

Why do you need a site-map?

• Supports SEO: A site-map ensures that search engines crawl and index your website more effectively.
• Improves ranking: It guarantees that important pages are indexed, especially new or updated content.

II. How to Create a Site-map

Step 1: Use Tools to Create a Site-map

You can create a site-map using online tools like Yoast SEO Plugin (for WordPress) or XML-sitemaps.com. These tools will automatically scan your website and generate a standard XML file.

• Yoast SEO Plugin (for WordPress):
• Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
• Install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin.
• Go to "SEO" -> "General" -> "Features" and enable "XML Sitemaps."
• XML-sitemaps.com (for any website):
• Visit xml-sitemaps.com.
• Enter your website’s URL and click "Start."
• Download the generated site-map file once the process is complete.

Step 2: Upload the Site-map to Your Server

After creating the site-map, upload the sitemap.xml file to your website’s root directory (usually public_html or www folder).

III. How to Update Your Site-map in Google Search Console

Once the site-map is created and uploaded, it’s time to update it in Google Search Console to allow Google to crawl and index the content.

Step 1: Access Google Search Console

• Go to Google Search Console at https://search.google.com/search-console/.
• Log in with your Google account.
• Select your verified website in the dashboard.

Step 2: Submit the Site-map to Google Search Console

• In the left-hand menu, click "Sitemaps".
• Enter the site-map URL in the "Add a new sitemap" field. Example: https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml.
• Click "Submit" to upload the site-map.

Step 3: Check the Site-map Status

Once submitted, you can view the status of the site-map in Google Search Console. Google will start crawling and indexing the pages listed in your site-map.