WordPress XML sitemap creation and submission guide

How to create and submit an XML sitemap for a WordPress site.

Amid the constant flow of e-market trends and shifting algorithms, you’ll find that even the savvy business owner sometimes overlooks a simple yet powerful tool: the XML sitemap. If you’ve ever asked yourself “How to create and submit an XML sitemap for a WordPress site.” (yes, I kept the exact phrase because algorithms like precision), you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in and make your site irresistible to search engines (and maybe crack a little smile while we’re at it).

First off, what is this mysterious sitemap? Think of it as your site’s own personal roadmap, one that you hand to search engine crawlers so they don’t wander your WordPress website aimlessly like tourists without a map. By providing a well-structured XML sitemap, you’re saying: “Here are my pages, posts, media files, and here’s how often they update—come on in and explore.” According to experts, an XML sitemap doesn’t magically boost rankings by itself, but it certainly ensures your pages don’t get lost in the dark corners of cyberspace.

Why bother creating an XML sitemap in WordPress?

Okay, we’ve established that a sitemap is a roadmap—but why should you care as a business owner (especially one operating with the precision of a professional distributor, as our clients at BlogCog know all too well)? Here are some reasons (with a wink):

One: If you recently launched your WordPress site or added lots of new content, search engines might not discover everything. A sitemap helps them find new or deep content faster.

Two: If your site is large, complex, has custom post types or media-heavy content, a sitemap improves crawling efficiency.

Three: For minimalist sites or those with little internal linking, a sitemap acts as a signal to crawlers like “Hey! Don’t miss me!” So whether you’re distributing premium spa-salon products (hello, BlogCog clientele) or running a niche beauty blog, you’re covered.

How to create an XML sitemap in WordPress (the easy, plugin way)

Let’s keep this fun and simple: you don’t need to be a developer in a hooded sweatshirt to get this done.

Step 1: Log into your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins ? Add New, and install a trusted SEO plugin such as Yoast SEO or Rank Math or All in One SEO. These all generate sitemaps easily.

Step 2: Activate the plugin and navigate to its sitemap settings. For example, in Yoast you would go to SEO ? General ? Features tab and ensure the “XML sitemaps” toggle is On.

Step 3: Locate your sitemap URL. For many sites it will be something like https://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml or https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. You can paste that into your browser to preview the file.

Step 4 (optional but smart): In the plugin settings you can control which content is included in the sitemap — include posts/pages, maybe exclude tags or author archives if you want to streamline what search engines see.

How to create an XML sitemap in WordPress (core/manual method)

If you’re the kind of professional who wants minimal plugins (we salute you), you should know that since WordPress version 5.5 a basic XML sitemap is generated automatically. Go to https://yourdomain.com/wp-sitemap.xml to check.

But: this default version is quite basic. It doesn’t offer the same customization as plugins (excluding content types, prioritizing pages, etc.). If you’re managing a large site (say, a beauty-professional hub with hundreds of product pages), the plugin approach above is more flexible.

Submitting your XML sitemap to search engines

Alright, you’ve got the sitemap. Now you need to show it to the world (or at least to the search engines). Here’s how to submit your sitemap — yes, even tech-averse business owners can do this with a little courage.

Google: Log in to Google Search Console, verify your site (if you haven’t already), then go to Index ? Sitemaps, enter the sitemap URL, and click Submit. You’ll then see the status and any issues the crawler found.

Bing: Similar process: log in to Bing Webmaster Tools, verify ownership, then go to Sitemaps to submit. Bing may take a few days to show results.

After submission, keep an eye on the status in Search Console — if you see errors like “sitemap not found” or “invalid URL,” you’ll need to correct them (maybe wrong URL, blocked by robots.txt, or too large).

Best practices and things to watch out for

Because you’re a business owner wanting results (traffic, conversions, growth for your salon/spa wholesale biz), let’s cover what helps and what hurts:

• Ensure your sitemap is listed in your robots.txt file (this helps crawlers find it). Something like: Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.

• Don’t include pages you don’t want indexed (thin content, admin pages). Excluding them helps search engines focus on what matters.

• Keep your sitemap size reasonable. Large e-commerce sites should use sitemap index files (e.g., sitemap1.xml, sitemap2.xml) if URLs >50,000 or size >50 MB uncompressed.

• Whenever you restructure your site (change URL structure, remove major sections), resubmit the sitemap or ping search engines to recrawl faster. Many plugins do this automatically, but it’s smart to check.

• For best results, combine sitemap submission with strong internal linking, clean navigation, and a content strategy (like the ones we help deliver via BlogCog’s AI-Driven subscriptions). Because a sitemap alone won’t replace quality content—it just supports it.

Bringing it together with BlogCog

Here at BlogCog, we believe in layering smart tools (like XML sitemaps) on top of great content and strategy. Our AI-Driven Blog Subscription service helps you publish content that search engines love, and a properly configured sitemap ensures that that content actually gets found. If your salon/spa business is looking to dominate search results, create a sitemap, submit it, then let BlogCog help fill the engine with the fuel (SEO-rich blog entries) while you focus on clients and retail growth.

And if you feel a little giddy knowing your sitemap is working behind the scenes while new leads roll in—hey, that’s just icing on the analytics cake.

Ready to get started? Go generate that sitemap. Submit it. Then let the traffic come, let your clients swarm in, and let BlogCog support your content engine. You’ve got this.

Happy mapping, happy ranking, and happy growing your business!

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