If you’re running a website, it’s important to make sure that your site is being indexed by Google. In order to do this, you need to submit a sitemap to Google Search Console. In this article, we will show you how to do that!
What is a sitemap and how does it work?
A sitemap is a file that contains a list of all the pages on your website. This file is then submitted to Google Search Console, which helps Google index your site.
When you submit a sitemap to Google Search Console, you’re essentially telling Google about all the pages on your site that it should know about. This helps Google index your site properly, and it can also help your site rank higher in search results.
2 Types of Sitemaps
There are two types of sitemaps: XML sitemaps and HTML sitemaps. XML sitemaps are designed for search engines, while HTML sitemaps are designed for humans (they’re basically just a list of all the pages on your site).
In this article, we’ll focus on how to submit an XML sitemap to Google Search Console.
Create or Find your Sitemap
If you’re not sure whether or not you have a sitemap, you can usually find it by going to yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. If you don’t have a sitemap, you can create one using a tool like XML-Sitemaps. If you run your website on WordPress, there are also plugins that can help you create a sitemap. I personally use a plugin called “The SEO Framework” which works like a charm.
How to Submit a Sitemap to Google Search Console
Now that we’ve gone over what a sitemap is and how it works, let’s take a look at how to submit one to Google Search Console.
Log into Google Search Console
First, you’ll need to log into your Google Search Console account. You can use your usual Google account for that. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one. Once you’re logged in, click on the “Add Property” button.
Add your Website
Enter the URL of your website and click “Add”. I usually use the “Domain” selection. You’ll then be taken to the verification page. There are several methods you can use to verify your website, but the easiest is probably to just click on the “HTML tag” option and copy the code that’s provided.
Add the Google Search Tag with a Plugin
Next, head over to your WordPress dashboard. I personally use the official Google SiteKit plugin to verify my website, but you can use your preferred SEO plugin as well. Once the plugin is installed and activated, simply paste the code that you copied from Google Search Console into the appropriate field. Be sure that you’ll want to copy the string that’s written inside content=”XXXXXXXXX”.
Once you’ve done that, click on the button and you’re all set!
Add the Google Search Tag in the header.php file
If you don’t want to use a plugin, you can also verify your website by adding a simple piece of code to your header.php file. Just add the code that Google Search Console gives you to the top of your header.php file.
<meta name="google-site-verification" content="XXXXXXXXX" />Replace “XXXXXXXXX” with the actual code that you copied from Google Search Console. Once you’ve added this code to your header.php file, save your changes and upload it to your server.
Submit your Sitemap
Now that your website is verified, it’s time to submit your sitemap! To do this, click on the “Sitemaps” tab and then enter the URL of your sitemap.xml file into the field provided.
That’s usually yoursitename.com/sitemap.xml
Click “Submit” and you’re done! Google will now start indexing your site.
Submit your blog post URLs
That said, you also have the possibility to submit your URLs with the search bar you can see on the top.
Just copy the URL of one of your posts, paste it into the search bar and hit Enter.
Now, Google Search Console shows you that they have not yet indexed your site. Click the “Request Indexing” button. This will take up to 2 minutes (usually less) and then it gives you a notification that the URL has been added to a queue to index it.
I usually do this will all my URLs.
Keep in mind that Google will take some time to index your website if it’s new. Don’t worry about that, just keep writing good content regularly and Google will soon index your pages!
The benefits of submitting a site map to Google Search Console
There are several benefits of submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console, including:
- Allowing Google to discover your new and updated pages more quickly.
- Submitting specific types of content, such as video or images. This allows Google to index this content more effectively.
- Getting detailed information about how Google crawls and indexes your site. This can be helpful in troubleshooting potential issues.
Overall, submitting a sitemap is a good way to ensure that Google is aware of all the pages on your site, and can help them to be indexed more quickly and effectively. So if you haven’t already submitted a sitemap for your site, I encourage you to do so!
When you should submit the site map to Google Search Console
Ideally, you should submit your sitemap to Google Search Console as soon as your site is live. This will help Google to discover and index your pages more quickly. However, if you have an existing site that you haven’t submitted a sitemap for, it’s never too late to do so! Just follow the steps in this article and you’ll be up and running in no time.
Tips for how to make sure that your website is indexed by Google
If you’re wondering how to make sure that your website is indexed by Google, there are a few things you can do:
- Submit a sitemap to Google Search Console. This will help Google to discover and index your pages more quickly.
- Write unique and compelling content. This will help to encourage people to link to your site, which can also help with indexing.
- Promote your site on social media. This can help to generate traffic and links, both of which can aid in indexing.
One quick way to get your posts ranked on Google is to share and promote them on different websites. My personal favourite is to share my new post on Reddit. Specifically, the following subreddits:
Google usually updates those within a few minutes. And just like that – you also have your first few backlinks which can lead to quicker indexing!
Check out my other posts if you want to learn more about creating backlinks.
I hope that this quick tip helps you on your journey to get ranked quicker!
Conclusion
That’s it! Now you know how to submit a sitemap to Google Search Console. I hope this article has helped you to learn how to submit your sitemap. Overall, the best way to ensure that your site is indexed by Google is to create high-quality content and promote your site regularly. If you do this, eventually Google will take notice and index your site! Thanks for reading.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below! Thanks for reading!
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