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XML sitemap best practices: How to create and register your sitemap

xml sitemap best practices

Plus, how a simple sitemap can protect search visibility

Like any other traveler, Google likes having a map to show where they’ve come from and where they’re going. An XML sitemap helps Google’s crawlers find your main pages faster, even if you don’t have good internal linking (you can work on that later).

But that’s not all – sitemaps also protect against republishing and plagiarism issues by establishing you as the original creator of your content. That helps keep you in the search results, even if a larger website has syndicated or reblogged your work.

So how do you get, register, and use an XML sitemap? Keep reading for more from the experts at our Atlanta SEO company.

Your 3 options for getting a sitemap

Option 1: Use a platform

Depending on what content management system (CMS) or blogging platform you use, you may already have sitemap functionality built in.

For example, LightCMS automatically updates your sitemap every time you post something. This is true of most higher-end CMSs designed for business use. If your CMS has a suite of SEO tools built in then chances are the XML sitemap is among them. Check with your CMS support team to be sure.

Note that even if your CMS does this, you will still have to register your sitemap with the search engines (directions below).

Option 2: Use a plugin

One of the most popular CMSs, WordPress, does not offer a built-in sitemap tool. You can still get this functionality if you use WordPress, however. A number of plugins offer it, including the Yoast SEO plugin.

This plugin will automatically update your sitemap just like the built-in functionality of other platforms. And, once again, you will still need to register it with the search engines yourself.

Option 3: Create your own

Creating your own sitemap does not require coding knowledge. Any business owner can do it. The only drawback is that you will have to do it again periodically because it doesn’t update on its own. If possible, use the automatic methods above.

To create your own sitemap you’re going to this free online tool. It will take three steps:

1. Fill in the form with basic info about your website

“Change frequency” refers to how often you update the site, such as how often you publish new blog posts. Be honest, but err on the side of higher frequency; if you post 3-4 times per week, for example, choose “daily,” not “weekly.”

2. Press start and download the file

The sitemap generator is going to crawl your website exactly like a search engine would, and compile what it finds into your sitemap. This can take a few moments or longer. You will then download the sitemap file using the link.

3. Upload that link to the root folder of your domain

This involves logging into your hosting account (such as GoDaddy, HostGator, InMotion Hosting, etc.). Most of these services offer a tool to upload files that does not involve any technical knowledge, but if you’ve never done it before you should seek assistance from the hosting company or your own web developer.

Now your sitemap is live and you’re ready to tell Google.

How to register your sitemap

Having a sitemap only helps if the search engine knows about it. Here’s how to register your sitemap with Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.

Register with Google

You can register your sitemap with Google by:

  1. Submit a sitemap using the Search Console Sitemaps report.
  2. Use the Search Console API to programmatically submit a sitemap.
  3. Use the ping tool. Send a GET request in your browser or the command line to this address, specifying the full URL of the sitemap. Be sure that the sitemap file is accessible to Googlebotxml sitemap best practices register google
  4. Insert the following line anywhere in your robots.txt file, specifying the path to your sitemap. We will find it the next time we crawl your robots.txt file:xml sitemap best practices register

Register with Bing

If your website is not powered by WordPress, you’ll need to visit Bing Webmaster Tools. Just like Search Console, submitting your sitemap in Bing is simple. Just choose ‘Sitemaps’ from the menu, paste in your sitemap URL, and hit Submit.

Not only will this submit your site to Bing, but also to Yahoo (as they are both powered by Bings Index).
Submitting your sitemap to Bing is even easier if your site is powered by WordPress. Simply download the Bing URL Submissions Plugin and you’re good to go.

How your sitemap can protect search visibility and performance

The other day I talked about reblogging: what it is, why people do it, and why it’s good for your business. However, as Janet Driscoll Miller points out, there are some cases where reblogged content can end up competing with you for search visibility and having a file known as an XML sitemap can protect you. Let’s look at why.

The problem with duplicate content

Whenever you publish something on your blog, there’s a chance other websites will decide to use it too, essentially reprinting it on their own sites. There are lots of ways this can happen:

  • You’ve agreed to let another site syndicate your content
  • Someone “reblogs” your post with a link to your original
  • A content curator includes your post in their collection, with a link to your original
  • Unethical webmasters pirate your content, using it as their own with no backlink

How common is this? Extremely common, even if you don’t know it. And, even in the case of illegally pirated work, it’s almost impossible to get every copy of your content taken down. The result is that many of your best posts are duplicated on other sites.

As Janet points out, duplicate content creates a problem for Google. Imagine if you ran a search and the first five results were all the exact same article, just at five different websites. That would be frustrating, and Google doesn’t like to frustrate its users.

So they’re only going to show the article once.

And the version Google uses is normally going to be whichever version they indexed first. In a fair world that would be your version, because you’re the content creator. But Google crawls other sites more often than they crawl your site. They may crawl some large content curators every few minutes. So they could find your article at one of those sites first, and end up never even showing your blog in the search results. For your article.

How a sitemap protects your content

As common as duplicate content is, it’s surprisingly easy to protect yourself and make sure your site is the one that appears in search results. Janet reminds us that this is one of the great advantages of having an XML sitemap.

XML sitemaps were conceived of as a way for websites to communicate with search engines. Despite the technical-sounding name, the sitemap is just a text file hosted by your site. That text file tells Google some basic information:

  • A list of all pages available for search indexing, so that none are missed
  • Which pages are most important
  • When the site was last updated and how often it changes

That means your sitemap clearly tells search engines what you’ve posted and when you’ve posted it, establishing you definitively as the earliest, authoritative source of your content. Google and Bing will respect this document and it can help make sure your work appears in the search results.

Want to know how to create your sitemap and keep it up to date? That’s what I’ll cover next time. Meanwhile, let our SEO experts take a look at your site and help you identify everything you can do to get the absolute most search traffic possible. Call EverSpark Interactive for a free consultation today.

No need to DIY – Send in the professionals

Getting your sitemap setup is only the tip of the SEO iceberg. EverSpark Interactive offers complete SEO services that start with a technical audit of your site so we know exactly what is and isn’t working. To learn how we can help your site gain more visibility in the search results, schedule your free consultation today.