If you are here means you have prepared your WordPress website and now you are thinking about SEO or how to start digital marketing to prompt your business online. This includes a sitemap which is just a map for search engines. It tells search engines about the pages of your website. Don’t fret it is not so much techy. In this guide, we will understand how to add a sitemap to a WordPress website so that search engines can find your site pages easily. So, let’s get started. 

Different WordPress Sitemap Plugins: Choose One

You have heard about the two WordPress SEO plugins. One is the Yoast SEO and another one is the Rank Math. Both of the plugins are widely used in the WordPress website. These plugins can be used to generate the WordPress sitemap easily. 

Yoast SEO is straightforward it does not require any modifications from your side. On the other hand, Rank Math is highly customizable and gives you more control over the changes you require. 

Now, it depends upon your need and the level of your tech expertise. If you are a tech-savvy person then you can go with the Rank Math and if you are a non-tech person and want a simple way then you can go for the Yoast SEO. So, let’s understand, both of them in a detailed manner, so you can use whatever you want.

How to Add a Sitemap to a WordPress Website Using Yoast SEO?

Suppose, if you have decided to go with the Yoast SEO. Then how to create a sitemap XML file for your WordPress website. Go with the below steps to set up a sitemap using Yoast SEO.

Go to the WordPress > Plugins.

Search for Yoast SEO then install it.

After the successful installation Activate the plugin.

Next, move to the dashboard > SEO.

Hover on it, you will find some options.

Click on General and then navigate to the Features tab.

You will find XML Sitemaps, switch it on.

After that hit the “See the XML sitemap” link.

Now, you will find the sitemap of posts, pages, categories, and more.

Use Rank Math to Add a Sitemap to a WordPress Website

What if you choose Rank Math? Let’s discuss how you can add the sitemap to your website using Rank Math. This plugin is a bit more techy than the Yoast SEO. The Rank Math gives you more control over the settings. Let’s dive deep into Rank Math to set up a sitemap.

Open the WordPress dashboard.

Go to Plugins > Install Rank Math.

Click on Rank Math from the Dashboard.

Choose Sitemap Settings.

Select the content that you want to add or exclude. 

Now, you can access the sitemap of your site by using the yourdomain/sitemap_index.xml.

Submit Sitemap to GSC for Faster Indexing

Once your sitemap is ready now you can submit it to the google search console. This is the place where you can see the site's performance on the search engine. 

If you haven’t added your site to the GSC, then you need to add it first. After the successful addition of your website. Move to the Sitemap section.

You will find the option where you can add the URL of your sitemap. There you can add your sitemap and then hit the submit button.

Google will process your sitemap and show the Discover pages and status. If there is any issue, Google will let you know, otherwise, the status will be a success. If you are having any issues while setting up it you can contact digitalHats, a digital marketing agency to resolve your run time queries for free. 

Conclusion

In this detailed guide, we have elaborated on how to add a sitemap to a WordPress website. Here we explained both Yoast SEO and Rank Math plugins. Although the Rank Math gives you more control over the settings and required changes. On the other hand, Yoast SEO is easy to use even if you are a novice user. Now, You can choose any of the plugins to set up your sitemap according to your technical expertise.