Sitemaps, explained
What a sitemap is, how to tell if you already have one, how to create one, and how to submit it to Google.
What is a sitemap?
A sitemap is a simple file that lists the pages on your website so search engines can find them all. Think of it as a table of contents you hand to Google: instead of hoping a crawler stumbles onto every page through links, you give it the full list up front. Most sitemaps are XML files named sitemap.xml.
Do I already have one?
Probably. Open yoursite.com/sitemap.xml in your browser. If you see a list of URLs (it may look like plain code — that’s normal), you have a sitemap and can skip straight to submitting it. If you get a 404, you’ll need to create one.
How to create a sitemap
You rarely build one by hand. Pick whatever matches your setup:
- WordPress: plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math generate and keep your sitemap updated automatically.
- Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow: a sitemap is built in and already live at /sitemap.xml — nothing to install.
- Custom site: your framework (Next.js, Hugo, etc.) can emit one at build time, or a free online generator can crawl your site and produce the file for you to upload.
How to submit it to Google
In Search Console, open Sitemaps in the left sidebar, enter your sitemap URL (usually just sitemap.xml), and click Submit. Google will fetch it and report how many URLs it found and indexed. You only submit once — Google re-checks it on its own from then on.
Checking those URLs here
Your sitemap is the shortlist of pages you care about — so audit them. Run a PageRankStatus page audit on a URL and we fetch it directly and report whether it is indexable at all: HTTP status, noindex tags and canonical conflicts, each with a plain-English Why? and a concrete fix. No Google account needed. Curious how this relates to Google’s own reports? See the Search Console guide.