In my previous article, On-Page optimization tips, I discussed the importance of creating a sitemap. Today I will explain how to create a sitemap for WordPress websites.
You will notice my blog, has two sitemaps. I have an XML sitemap and I also have an HTML sitemap. I used a plugin to create a sitemap in XML format and a simple text editor for my HTML sitemap.
Because I use a plugin for the XML site map, it’s easy to keep that one current, because it automatically updates to reflect new pages and posts. However, Matt Cutts from Google has stated that while doing both is preferable, if you only intend to do one, you should go for HTML
Follow these simple steps to create an XML sitemap.
1. Go to your WordPress Dashboard. Click Add New Plugin.
Figure 1: Adding New Plugin
2. Search for Google XML Sitemaps with qTranslate Support and install it.
Figure 2: Installing the Plugin (Click image to view larger)
3. Once you activate the plugin, go to Settings and click XML-sitemap.
Figure 3: Locating the Plugin in the Dashboard
4. You can configure the settings. There are a lot of options available including exclude categories, exclude specific pages and posts, add external pages from other websites, change frequency settings and change priority settings.
Figure 4: Options you can configure (Click image to view larger)
Figure 5: Additional Options you can configure (Click image to view larger)
5. Save the settings. Once saved click “rebuild sitemap”.
Figure 6: Rebuild the Sitemap (Click image to view larger)
6. To find out the URL of your sitemap; click the hyperlink “sitemap” or go to Location Settings, and you will see your sitemap URL there. See figures below.
Figure 7: Accessing your Sitemap’s URL (Click image to view larger)
Figure 8: Accessing your Sitemap’s URL (Click image to view larger)
Follow these steps to create a simple HTML sitemap.
- Open a plain text editor like Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac). Note that if you are using TextEdit you should change the format to plain text, by going to Format, then ‘Make Plain Text’.
- Copy and paste the HTML code below.
<html><Head><title> My HTML Sitemap </title></head><body><h1> My HTML Sitemap </h1><br><strong>Pages</strong><br>1. <a href= "http://www.heleninnes.ca/">Home Page </a><br>
2. <a href= "http://www.heleninnes.ca/professional-seo-consultant-calgary/">About Page</a>
</body></html>To help you understand what the above code means, the image below shows how it will look in a web browser when all the steps are completed.
Figure 9: Sample HTML Sitemap
- Replace the two URLs pointing to my site, so they point to your own web pages. If you want to add more than just two pages follow the same format, adding more lines to the numbered list. (Note, The break tag, <br> , means new line.)
- Once you are done, save the file in the text editor. By default the text editor may save a .txt file, but you want an HTML file. The figures below explain how you should save your file if using Notepad.
Figure 10: Replacing .txt to .html
Figure 11: Change * to your desired file name. Example, “HelenInnes-Sitemap.html”
Figure 12: You will see this icon when you change the file extension from .txt to .html
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and White", not only because I plan to explain things in easy to understand terms. I also want to educate those new to SEO about the various 'Black Hat' and 'White Hat' search engine optimization tactics.
