One of the easiest things to forget when planning your site is the sitemap. And yet it has real added value for your SEO. The sitemap is an XML document on your website that helps search engines better understand your pages and modify their indexing. It can be used to index your site or a specific element.
So if you want to be listed for certain keywords, it’s a good idea to create sitemaps specific to each page. This lets you choose the keywords you want Google to index.
If this is not the case, you can integrate the sitemap on your site to allow Google to see all the content and provide a better use of your site for SEO.
Once the sitemap has been validated and declared, you’ll be able to access various significant information about your site, such as :
– The number of pages indexed by Google (pages visited and pages indexed) ;
– The time it takes Google to index your site ;
– The number of pages currently indexed ;
– Date of last site update ;
– The number of pages visited by a Googlebot ;
– The number of specific requests made by Googlebot ;
– The number of inbound and outbound links for each page.
The indexing process can take from a few minutes to several days. It depends:
– The number of pages on your website, since indexing time depends on the number of pages created on your site;
– Your website, because if your site is hosted on slow servers, it will take longer to be indexed;
– Content, because if you have a lot of content on your site, it will take longer to be indexed.
Once your website has been indexed by Google, it can take up to three months for your pages to appear in the engine’s results. This depends on the number of pages and the content of your site.
1. What is a site map?
The site map is an HTML or XML document used to show Google the structure of your website. For proper referencing, you need to put the site map on the same level as the robots.txt and Sitemap.xml files. The site map must be placed in the same directory as the other documents on your website.
The site map must be an HTML document with at least two links:
– The first points to the robots.txt file (if you have one).
– The second points to the Sitemap.xml file.
The site map can be generated automatically or manually. If you generate the site map manually, it should look like this:
<siteMap xmlns=”http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9″
xmlns:xsi=”http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance”>
<siteMapNode url=”http://www.pixeldreamstudio.com/” title=”Home”>
2. Why create a sitemap?
Thanks to the sitemap, Google knows in which order to organize the various links on the pages of a website. If you want your site to be well referenced, it’s essential to create a site map.
Google offers you the Google Webmaster Tools tool. This tool enables you to track Google’s use of your site, as well as the progress of your site’s listings on the engines and in the various other search engines.
The first tool in Google Webmaster Tools is the Sitemap Generator. In addition to being intuitive, this tool automatically inserts the HTML code of your sitemap into your site.
3. How do I create a sitemap?
To create a sitemap, simply use the Sitemap Generator offered by Google webmaster Tools.
First of all, go to the Google Webmaster Tools site (http://www.google.com/webmasters/). Then register. Once you have registered your account, you can access the Sitemap Generator.
Sitemap Generator” button
Next, go to the website you want to register in the Sitemap Generator. Then simply click on the “Sitemap Generator” button.
This button requires a 3-digit code. This is sent automatically by Google when you register your website with Google Webmaster Tools.
Once you’ve entered the Sitemap Generator, click on “New/Add URL” to create a list of your pages.
Next, enter the URLs of your pages in the space provided. Then click on “Add” to save the pages.
URL of your pages
Then click on “Save” to save your sitemap.
Extensions for creating a sitemap in WordPress
There are several extensions available for creating sitemaps in WordPress. We’re going to take a closer look at SEO Smart Links, SEO Ultimate and SEOPress. We recommend SEOPress for its ease of use and power.
This extension generates links in your site based on content. It’s a full-featured extension that lets you :
create a sitemap ;
optimize the referencing of your pages;
keep your pages clean;
keep links clean;
optimize your site’s SEO by generating quality links.
This extension also allows you to generate an XML sitemap for Google and Yahoo! (Depending on the options you select).
This extension can also be used to create a sitemap for Bing.
The SEO Ultimate extension is also very comprehensive, allowing you to :
generate a sitemap ;
optimize the referencing of your pages;
keep your pages clean;
optimize your site’s SEO by generating quality links.
The SEOPress extension is another full-featured extension that allows you to :
create a sitemap ;
optimize the referencing of your pages;
keep your pages clean;
optimize your site’s SEO by generating quality links.
As its name suggests, this extension ensures the cleanliness of your pages.
that is:
- remove dead links on your site (and tell Google that these links are no longer valid);
- reduce the size of your pages to reduce their loading time;
- remove unnecessary images that could penalize your site in terms of referencing.
4. How do I integrate a sitemap into my site?
Integrating a sitemap into your site is simple. Simply go to the “Extensions” tab on your site.
Then select the ” SEOpress ” extension.
To integrate a sitemap on your site, simply click on the “Add a site” button. You can then select the URL to include in this tool.
In our SEO training course we teach you how to optimize your site for SEO. We also offer training to create your own website with WordPress and manage it independently.
5. How to manage a sitemap on your site?
Click on the “Sitemap” tab to add pages to your sitemap.
You can also ask Google to search your site for pages in XML format (this means that Google will automatically search for all the pages you’ve added to your sitemap).
It’s important to know that if you add pages to your sitemap, Google will automatically search for them. That’s why it’s important to make one every time you create a new page.
The last step is to integrate your site into Google Search Console. This console will enable you to manage your links, see your Google ranking and optimize your pages.
You now have all the tools you need to create your site, promote it and rank it on Google. Don’t hesitate to do your research on the web, use the tools we’ve presented in this article and, above all, stay connected!
