In this post, we will see how to submit your website sitemap to Google.

I have already shown   how to get your site website verified with Google in one of my previous posts. Once your site is verified with Google, there are a couple of things you can do to improve your search presence.

But the most important thing to make your blog website search friendly is to add a sitemap using Google Search Console. Before getting into the details of how to submit a sitemap, it is important to understand what a sitemap is and why it is important to submit a sitemap to Search engines.

What is a Sitemap?

A sitemap is an XML file that contains all the links of your blog. This file helps crawlers to find all of the URLs of your blog. There are many parameters that a crawler will follow while it will go through your blog, such as number of posts, size of a post, no of images there are in post. In short, a sitemap is a complete index of your blog that you want search engine bots to see. Eventually, it will crawl all the links of your website and start indexing it.

How to Create a Sitemap for a WordPress Blog.

People who are using WordPress as their blogging platform can use plugging to generate the sitemap XML file. One of the Popular Plugin which will help you in generating sitemap is Rank Math. Besides the other benefits, this plugin will update itself automatically every time a new post is published in your website. So you will not need to resubmit a sitemap every time you post a new article.

There are also other online website and softwares which you can use to generate your XML sitemap if you are not using WordPress. Check .If you have used an offline tool to generate your sitemap, you will need to  upload it to the root of your site so that the address of the file becomes: yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml.

Submitting the Sitemap File in Google Search Console

You have already verified your site using Google Search Console. Now you will need to come here again and submit your website sitemap. Click on the “Add a Sitemap” button.

Here you can submit the sitemap that you have generated earlier and click on the Submit Sitemap button. It might take some time for Google to crawl and index your blog if your blog is new and you have generated the sitemap recently. There is a dedicated section for Indexing and Crawling withing Google Search Console where you can check how many links have been crawled and indexed by Google Search Console. Have a Look at the index status of my website Smart Affiliate Strategies.

Complete Steps to add Sitemap File in Google Search Console

Here are the steps to submit your website sitemap to Google:

1. Create a sitemap: A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your website. There are a variety of tools available online that can help you create a sitemap, such as XML Sitemaps.
2. Submit the sitemap to Google: Once you have created your sitemap, you can submit it to Google using Google Search Console. To do this, log in to your Google Search Console account, select your website property, and then click on the “Sitemaps” button. Next, enter the URL of your sitemap and click the “Submit” button.
3. Test the sitemap: After you’ve submitted your sitemap, it’s a good idea to test it to make sure that it’s working correctly. You can do this by clicking on the “Test” button in Google Search Console.
4. Monitor your website’s performance: After you’ve submitted your sitemap, you should keep an eye on your website’s performance to see if there are any issues or errors. You can use Google Search Console to monitor your website’s performance and make any necessary changes.
5. Keep your sitemap up-to-date: As you add new pages or make changes to your website, it’s important to update your sitemap accordingly. This will ensure that Google has the most accurate information about your website and can crawl and index your pages more efficiently.
6. Optimize your sitemap: In addition to making sure that your sitemap is up-to-date, you should also optimize it to ensure that it’s as effective as possible. This includes making sure that your sitemap has a clear hierarchy, including only the most important pages, and using proper formatting and tags.
7. Use other sitemap formats: In addition to XML sitemaps, Google also supports other sitemap formats such as Text, RDF and KML. Some of the formats are better for specific type of websites.
8. Monitor your sitemap status: Google Search Console also provides a feature to monitor the status of your sitemap. It will show you the number of pages that have been indexed, submitted and any errors or warnings.
9. Check for crawl errors: In addition to monitoring your sitemap status, it’s also important to check for crawl errors on your website. Crawl errors can prevent Google from indexing your pages properly, so it’s important to address them as soon as possible.

Wrapping Up

Submitting a sitemap is an important step in optimizing your website for search engines, but it’s just one of many factors that can impact your search engine rankings. To improve your website’s visibility and search engine rankings, it’s also important to focus on creating high-quality content, building backlinks, and using other SEO best practices.

It’s important to note that submitting a sitemap to Google is not a guarantee that your site will be indexed or that it will rank higher in search results. However, it can help Google discover and index your pages more efficiently, which can help improve your website’s visibility and search engine rankings over time.