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At last I have to deal with a very important for organic traffic to your website.
You already know that the more visits, the greater the opportunity to make conversions (of whatever type) on your website, so pay close attention to what we are discussing in this article, as it will make people visit you more.
At the end of the article, you will know why it is important to create, optimize and “upload to Google” your website, and the many benefits that your website will have at the SEO level by doing so, as well as which WordPress Sitemap plugins you can use.
What is a Sitemap
Let’s start with the basics: understand what a Sitemap is.
Back in 2005, Google announced that it had created something called “Google Sitemaps”, which focused on getting website creators to tell Google in a “technical” way what their websites were about.
This way Google would know how to position them higher or lower, depending on their keywords.
Much has happened since then, and right now everything has evolved exponentially. Nevertheless, having an XML Sitemap is still essential after creating your website.
Over the years, web design has evolved a lot, and footers full of links (like a Sitemap) to different pages on the web are no longer usually found.
Today a Sitemap is much more evolved, and is delivered in XML-format to Google (we see it in the next point).
The concept of Sitemap itself is quite simple: a roadmap that contains links to different pages of your website, along with information about the content of said website (modifications, importance, frequency, hierarchies, etc).
The name itself already gives you a pretty clear clue: Site Map (silly laugh). What a good Sitemap does is not make you go up in Google in a direct way, but rather indirectly: it helps Google to understand better and faster what your website is about, so that it is well indexed, and Google can position before or after in the search results.
An XML Sitemap is made up of a series of tags, among which is the information on your website, relevant to Google. You don’t need to know them, but here I mention the basic ones: urlset, url, loc, changefreq, lastmod, priority.
And to make matters worse, here is a very simple Sitemap (with a single URL), so you can see its technical structure:
Hears! Stop sweating, you don’t need to understand that code.
That is why you are reading this article, to find a plugin that helps you make everything as simple as possible. Anyway, before, I am going to mention the difference between an HTML Sitemap and an XML Sitemap.
HTML Sitemap vs. XML Sitemap
The big difference between the two is that one is more focused on the “human” and the other on “the machine”.
The HTML Sitemap has a beautiful structure to the human eye, and understandable. It serves to show the content of your website at a glance, and thus avoid unnecessary clicks to your users.
They can be created both manually and automatically, and they help your website in general. This is an example of HML Sitemap:
However, the XML Sitemap is more focused on indexing and everything related to Google spiders.
This is the most important type of Sitemap for your website at the SEO level, although beware, it is recommended to have both. Here is a visual example of what an XML Sitemap looks like, created by the Yoast SEO plugin.
Why having a Sitemap is important for your WordPress website?
If I’m still not completely convincing you, let’s see if I can do it with these compelling reasons. If you do not already have it, it is essential that you create a Sitemap for your website because…
…you will be indexed more times.
The fact that you have the Sitemap will make your website become a “treasure map” for crawlers (Google spiders that index your site).
These little spiders will be so comfortable on your website, and they will find out what you are talking about, that, looking at the map every time they enter, they will feel comfortable and they will like it visit your website again and again.
…it is very easy to create it in WordPress.
That is why I mentioned earlier in this article that it is not even necessary, today, and using WordPress, to understand the XML Sitemap code.
All you have to do is install one of the plugins that I am going to mention in the next section, and they they will take care of everythingwith minimal configuration.
Also, the good thing about using WordPress is that any questions you have about it can be answered by the large number of people who make up the WordPress Community on the Internet.
Personally, when I have any questions, I write in a specialized Facebook group, and they answer me almost instantly.
…your content is prioritized.
With this “treasure map”, you will be able to change the priority that you want the spiders to give to your content.
In this way, they will tell their all-powerful boss “Google”, what content you consider most important to index, and that will help them optimize the indexing of your website, positively affecting your SEO.
…the multimedia of your website is indexed.
Hasn’t it happened to you that when you search for anything on Google, if it has to do with something multimedia (for example, a new World Cup video clip) several videos appear in the first positions?
This is achieved by indexing websites in search of multimedia content (images, videos, audios, etc). We won’t go into much detail, but as of today, the multimediais crucial in SEO, and the Sitemap will help its better indexing.
…Google will know you like the back of its hand.
Think a little… if Google was the one who created the Google Sitemaps in 2005, and it is Google that is in charge of positioning you higher or lower in the search results of your keyword.
Wouldn’t it be better to do what they ask, and offer them a good XML Sitemap through the free tools they provide?
Google is an information hog, and oddly enough, your website is part of all the food that Google eats daily. Let your XML Sitemap be its fork when visiting your website.
…you will speak the language of the bots.
We have mentioned before that the big difference between XML and HTML Sitemaps is that the former are more focused on bots, crawlers, spiders, or whatever you like to call them.
The XML Sitemap will act as interpreter (rather unidirectional) to communicate with them in the most effective way possible, and that this is positive for you and your SEO goals.
…you will get a lot of very interesting analytics in Google Webmaster tools.
When you upload your XML Sitemap to the , you will have at your disposal different tools that will help you optimize your website.
…combined with an HTML Sitemap you will have a perfect SEO formula.
Remember that it is recommended to combine both Sitemaps (XML and HTML). In this way you will offer the end user the advantage of seeing all the content of your website at once.
The best plugins to manage your WordPress Sitemap
We now go to the plugins that I have selected so that you can take a look at them and try them yourself on your website.
My recommendation is that you make a clone of the web, for example under a subdomain test.yourdomain.com and do the relevant tests there.
These are the plugins that you have to take into account to create an XML Sitemap as Google dictates:
Simple Sitemap (For HTML Sitemaps)
The first plugin I mention is one that focuses on create the HTML Sitemapas necessary for your website as XML.
You can insert the result of the HTML Sitemap yourself, by means of a shortcode, in the page you want. It has a Pro version, with more advanced options.
SimpleWP Sitemap
Unlike the first plugin, this one here generates both a XML version as an HTML version of the Sitemap of your website. It keeps both Sitemaps up to date automatically and is easy to use.
Google Sitemap by BestWebSoft
Although little known, this plugin deserves its mention. It is one of the plugins that they automate the creation of the XML Sitemap and it works very well with the Google Webmaster tools.
It has a Premium version for those who need more advanced options.
Google XML Sitemaps
This plugin is one of the titans when it comes to XML Sitemap. It basically does what the name says. It generates an XML Sitemap for you in the purest Google style. It is also free, and no prior technical knowledge is required to use it.
It sure sounds like you. It is the most popular among all the plugins I mention here. It is a very complete plugin, which helps you in its entirety with the SEO on page of your website.
Its Premium version is also more than recommended (more than 5 million people who have it active, they can’t be wrong).
This is the one I personally use on the vast majority of client websites, and I haven’t had any problems.
All in One SEO Pack
A plugin that has been downloaded more than 50 million times since its release in 2007 and that as of today has more than 2 million active activations.
It is one of the most recommended plugins (it is there with Yoast SEO) and it has a Premium version that is worth analyzing.
Conclusions
Now you know a little more about the importance of having a good Sitemap for your website. Follow the advice I give you in the article, and try the plugins, according to the level of need you have.
Do not forget that both types of Sitemap (XML and HTML) must be present on your website, and that you have to “tell Google” through the Google Webmaster Tool, that your website exists and that you “invite” it to index you (uploading the XML Sitemap of your website).
Also take a look at the , where you will find everything I have told you, but in a much more extended way.
I hope that reading this article has served you, and that they index you and position you on the first page of Google. A hug and see you in the next article!
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Online Marketing and WordPress Consultant with more than 8 years of experience. I create websites with a user experience focused on specific objectives (increase visibility, increase customers, etc.) and I support my clients with their social media strategies and online marketing campaigns.
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