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WiscWeb - Adding a Sitemap to Google Search Console

Having an XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console can improve your site's Search Engine Optimization. It allows Google to more easily crawl your site, providing a more complete picture of content structure of the site (pages, posts, events, etc.).

Important

Setting up Google Search Console

Before proceeding, you should have a Google Search Console account created and set up for your WiscWeb site. For more information on this process, please refer to WiscWeb - Adding Google Services to your UW Theme WordPress site

Finding Your Sitemap

WordPress accommodates sitemaps as part of its core technology. Therefore, every WiscWeb site will automatically have a sitemap created. 

To locate your sitemap:

  1. Navigate to your website URL

  2. Append "/wp-sitemap.xml" to the end of your URL and press enter (Example: sitename.wisc.edu/wp-sitemap.xml)

  3. You should see a page that lists all of the links on your site

Troubleshooting Tip: If you receive a "Page not found" message when you navigate to your /wp-sitemap.xml URL, the issue might be that your site is not set up to be indexed by Google. This setting gets turned off by default when your site launches, but could have been manually set by a member of your team at some point. To fix this issue, navigate to Settings > Reading in your dashboard and uncheck the option that says "Discourage search engines from indexing this site."

Verify Your Site with Google Search Console

You will need to verify your site with Google Search Console, following the steps at [Link for document 90062 is unavailable at this time].

Adding Your Sitemap to Google Search Console

Once your site has been verified, continue into Google Search Console to get to your Dashboard screen for your site.

Google Search Console Dashboard view

Click on Sitemaps on the left. Once there, enter the sitemap URL for your site and click Submit. This will add your sitemap to the Google Search Console service.

Google Search Console sitemap submission



KeywordsSEO, Search Engine Optimization, results, search, sitemap   Doc ID97824
OwnerMatt G.GroupWiscWeb
Created2020-02-11 09:58:58Updated2024-01-30 18:50:15
SitesDoIT Help Desk, WiscWeb
Feedback  0   0