How to Submit Sitemap to Google

A sitemap is a structured file that lists all the important pages on your website, helping search engines like Google discover, crawl, and index your content more efficiently. Submitting your sitemap to Google is a critical step in ensuring your site’s visibility in search results. Without a properly submitted sitemap, even high-quality content may go unnoticed by Google’s crawlers, especially on large or newly launched websites. This guide walks you through the complete process of creating and submitting a sitemap to Google, covering best practices, essential tools, real-world examples, and answers to common questions. Whether you’re managing a small blog or a complex e-commerce platform, mastering sitemap submission can significantly improve your site’s search engine performance.

Step-by-Step Guide

Submitting a sitemap to Google is a straightforward process, but it requires attention to detail. Follow these steps carefully to ensure your sitemap is correctly generated, uploaded, and registered with Google Search Console.

Step 1: Understand What a Sitemap Is

A sitemap is an XML file that acts as a roadmap for search engines. It contains a list of URLs on your website along with metadata such as the last modified date, change frequency, and priority level. While not mandatory, a sitemap helps Google understand the structure of your site, especially when internal linking is weak or when pages are not easily discoverable through navigation.

There are different types of sitemaps:

• XML Sitemap – The most common type, used for web pages.
• Image Sitemap – Lists images associated with your pages.
• Video Sitemap – Helps Google index video content.
• News Sitemap – Required for publishers in Google News.
• Mobile Sitemap – Optimized for mobile-specific content (now largely obsolete due to responsive design).

For most websites, an XML sitemap is sufficient. Focus on including all publicly accessible, indexable pages—exclude duplicate, thin, or noindex pages.

Step 2: Generate Your Sitemap

Manually creating a sitemap is impractical for most websites. Instead, use automated tools based on your platform.

For WordPress: Plugins like Yoast SEO, Rank Math, or All in One SEO Pack automatically generate and update your sitemap. Once installed, navigate to the plugin settings and locate the XML Sitemap option. The default URL is usually https://yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml or https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml.

For Shopify: Shopify automatically generates a sitemap at https://yourstore.com/sitemap.xml. No setup is required.

For Wix: Wix creates a sitemap by default at https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml. You can view it in the SEO settings under “Sitemap.”

For Custom Websites (HTML, PHP, etc.): Use free online tools like XML-Sitemaps.com or Screaming Frog SEO Spider. Screaming Frog is especially powerful—it crawls your site, detects broken links, and exports a clean XML sitemap. After crawling, go to “Sitemap” > “Export” > “XML Sitemap.”

For Large Sites (10,000+ URLs): Split your sitemap into multiple files (sitemaps) using a sitemap index file. Google supports up to 50,000 URLs per sitemap and up to 500 sitemaps per index. Use tools like Screaming Frog or custom scripts to split URLs logically—by category, date, or content type.

Step 3: Upload Your Sitemap to Your Website

Once generated, your sitemap file (usually named sitemap.xml or sitemap_index.xml) must be placed in your website’s root directory. This is typically the top-level folder where your homepage (index.html) resides.

For example:

• Correct: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
• Incorrect: https://yoursite.com/blog/sitemap.xml or https://yoursite.com/assets/sitemap.xml

To upload:

1. Download the generated XML file from your tool.
2. Log in to your website’s file manager via FTP (FileZilla), cPanel, or your hosting provider’s dashboard.
3. Navigate to the root directory (often labeled “public_html” or “www”).
4. Upload the sitemap file there.
5. Verify the file is accessible by visiting https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml in your browser. You should see clean XML code, not a 404 error.

If you’re using a content delivery network (CDN) or caching plugin, clear the cache after uploading to ensure the sitemap is served correctly.

Step 4: Add Your Sitemap to robots.txt

While not required, including your sitemap in your robots.txt file helps Google discover it faster. Open your robots.txt file (usually in the root directory) and add the following line:

Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

If you have multiple sitemaps, list each one:

Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/images-sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/videos-sitemap.xml

Save and upload the updated robots.txt. Test it using Google’s robots.txt Tester in Search Console to ensure there are no syntax errors.

Step 5: Sign In to Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is the official platform for managing how Google interacts with your site. If you haven’t already, register your website:

1. Go to https://search.google.com/search-console.
2. Click “Start Now” and sign in with your Google account.
3. Click “Add Property” and enter your website URL (use the exact version: https://yoursite.com or https://www.yoursite.com).
4. Choose a verification method. The easiest is “Domain Name Provider” if your DNS is managed through a supported registrar, or “HTML Tag” if you can edit your site’s header.
5. Follow the instructions to complete verification. For HTML Tag, copy the provided meta tag and paste it into the <head> section of your homepage. For DNS, add a TXT record via your domain registrar.
6. Wait a few minutes, then click “Verify.”

Once verified, your site appears in the dashboard. Select it to proceed.

Step 6: Submit Your Sitemap in Google Search Console

Now that your sitemap is live and your site is verified, submit it to Google:

1. In the left sidebar, click “Sitemaps” under the “Index” section.
2. In the “Add a new sitemap” field, enter the full URL of your sitemap (e.g., sitemap.xml or sitemap_index.xml).
3. Click “Submit.”

Google will begin processing your sitemap. You’ll see a status update under “Submitted sitemaps.” It may take a few hours to days for full processing, depending on site size and crawl rate.

After submission, Google will display key metrics:

• Submitted – Total URLs in your sitemap.
• Indexed – URLs Google has successfully added to its index.
• Excluded – URLs not indexed due to issues like noindex tags, redirects, or duplicate content.

Regularly check this section to monitor indexing health.

Step 7: Monitor and Update Your Sitemap

Your sitemap is not a one-time task. As you add new content, update existing pages, or remove outdated ones, your sitemap must reflect those changes.

Most CMS plugins auto-update the sitemap. However, if you manage a custom site, schedule weekly or monthly checks using a crawler like Screaming Frog to detect new or broken URLs.

In Google Search Console, enable email alerts for indexing issues. Go to “Settings” > “Preferences” and turn on “Send me email alerts for critical issues.”

If you notice a drop in indexed pages, check for:

• Server errors (5xx) preventing Google from accessing the sitemap.
• Incorrect URLs in the sitemap (e.g., HTTP instead of HTTPS).
• Accidental inclusion of noindex pages.
• Large sitemap files exceeding Google’s limits.

Fix any issues, re-upload the corrected sitemap, and resubmit in Search Console.

Best Practices

Submitting a sitemap is only part of the equation. To maximize its effectiveness, follow these industry-proven best practices.

Include Only Indexable Pages

Never include pages blocked by robots.txt, marked with noindex, or requiring login. Google will ignore them, and including them inflates your submitted count without benefit. Use tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to filter out non-indexable URLs before generating your sitemap.

Use Proper URL Formatting

All URLs in your sitemap must be fully qualified (include protocol and domain). Avoid relative URLs like /about. Use https://yoursite.com/about instead.

Also, avoid trailing slashes inconsistently. Pick one format—either /page or /page/—and use it consistently across your site and sitemap to prevent duplication issues.

Limit Sitemap Size

Google imposes limits: a single sitemap file can contain up to 50,000 URLs and must not exceed 50MB uncompressed. If your site has more than 50,000 pages, split them into multiple sitemaps and create a sitemap index file.

A sitemap index file looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<sitemap>
<loc>https://yoursite.com/sitemap-1.xml</loc>
<lastmod>2024-06-15</lastmod>
</sitemap>
<sitemap>
<loc>https://yoursite.com/sitemap-2.xml</loc>
<lastmod>2024-06-15</lastmod>
</sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

Submit the index file (e.g., sitemap_index.xml) to Google, not the individual sitemaps.

Update the Last Modified Date

Include the <lastmod> tag in your sitemap entries. This tells Google when a page was last updated, helping prioritize crawling. Most CMS plugins do this automatically. If you’re generating sitemaps manually, ensure the date format follows ISO 8601: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss±zz:zz.

Don’t Rely on Sitemaps Alone

A sitemap doesn’t replace good internal linking. Google prioritizes pages that are linked from other high-authority pages on your site. Use your sitemap to supplement—not substitute—your site’s navigation structure.

Use Sitemaps for Special Content

If your site includes images, videos, or news articles, create specialized sitemaps:

• Image Sitemap: Helps Google index images that are not easily found through text. Include image URLs, caption, title, and license info.
• Video Sitemap: Required for video content to appear in Google Video Search. Include title, description, thumbnail URL, duration, and publication date.
• News Sitemap: For publishers in Google News. Must include publication name, language, and publication date.

Submit these alongside your main XML sitemap. Google treats them as separate entities but processes them under the same indexing system.

Test Before Submitting

Always validate your sitemap before submission. Use Google’s Sitemap Tester in Search Console or online validators like Sitemaps.org or W3C Markup Validator.

Common errors include:

• Invalid XML syntax (missing closing tags).
• Non-HTTPS URLs on HTTPS sites.
• Non-existent URLs (404s).
• Too many URLs in a single file.

Fix these issues before submitting to avoid delays or rejection.

Keep Sitemaps Updated

Automate sitemap regeneration. If you’re on WordPress, ensure your SEO plugin runs daily updates. For custom sites, use cron jobs to regenerate the sitemap every time new content is published.

Also, remove dead links. If you delete a page, ensure it’s removed from the sitemap. Keeping broken URLs reduces crawl efficiency and may signal poor site maintenance to Google.

Tools and Resources

Several tools simplify sitemap creation, validation, and monitoring. Here are the most reliable and widely used resources.

XML Sitemap Generators

• XML-Sitemaps.com – Free online generator for sites under 500 pages. Easy to use, no installation required.
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider – Powerful desktop tool for crawling and exporting sitemaps. Supports large sites, custom filters, and integrates with Google Search Console. Free version supports up to 500 URLs; paid version for larger sites.
• DeepCrawl – Enterprise-grade crawler with sitemap generation, ideal for enterprise sites with complex architectures.
• Ahrefs Site Audit – Includes sitemap analysis as part of its SEO audit. Identifies orphaned pages and missing sitemap entries.

Validation and Testing Tools

• Google Search Console – The official tool for submitting and monitoring sitemaps. Provides detailed error reports and indexing stats.
• W3C Markup Validation Service – Validates XML syntax. Paste your sitemap URL or code to check for errors.
• XML Validator by FreeFormatter – Online tool to validate XML structure and check for malformed tags.

WordPress Plugins

• Yoast SEO – Automatically generates and updates XML sitemaps. Includes options to exclude posts, categories, and tags.
• Rank Math – Lightweight alternative with advanced sitemap customization, including schema markup and image/video sitemaps.
• All in One SEO Pack – Reliable legacy plugin with solid sitemap functionality and easy setup.

Other Helpful Resources

• Google’s Sitemap Protocol Documentation – Official guide to sitemap structure and requirements: https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html
• Google Search Central Blog – Updates on crawling, indexing, and sitemap best practices: https://developers.google.com/search/blog
• Robots.txt Tester in GSC – Test your robots.txt file for accidental sitemap blocking.

Automation and Integration

For developers, integrate sitemap generation into your deployment pipeline:

• Use Node.js libraries like sitemap or node-sitemap to auto-generate sitemaps on build.
• For static sites (Next.js, Gatsby), plugins like next-sitemap generate sitemaps during deployment.
• Use GitHub Actions or CI/CD tools to trigger sitemap regeneration after content updates.

Real Examples

Let’s examine how three different types of websites handle sitemap submission.

Example 1: Small Blog (WordPress)

Case: A personal blog with 120 articles, updated weekly.

Process:

• Installed Yoast SEO plugin.
• Enabled XML sitemap in plugin settings.
• Verified site in Google Search Console using HTML tag method.
• Submitted https://myblog.com/sitemap_index.xml.
• Added Sitemap: https://myblog.com/sitemap_index.xml to robots.txt.

Result: Within 48 hours, 118 of 120 URLs were indexed. Two were excluded because they were draft posts accidentally included—fixed by excluding drafts in Yoast settings. Indexed pages now appear in search results with rich snippets.

Example 2: E-Commerce Store (Shopify)

Case: A Shopify store with 8,000 product pages, 200 blog posts, and 50 category pages.

Process:

• Shopify auto-generates sitemap at https://mystore.com/sitemap.xml.
• Verified site in GSC using DNS record.
• Submitted main sitemap.
• Created separate image sitemap using Screaming Frog to include product images.
• Submitted image sitemap separately.
• Monitored “Excluded” count weekly.

Result: 7,500 product URLs indexed within two weeks. 300 excluded due to duplicate meta descriptions—fixed using Shopify’s built-in SEO editor. Image sitemap helped 1,200 product images appear in Google Images, increasing traffic by 22% in three months.

Example 3: News Publisher (Custom CMS)

Case: A news site publishing 50+ articles daily, requiring Google News inclusion.

Process:

• Used custom PHP script to generate daily sitemap index with 50 sub-sitemaps (one per day).
• Created a dedicated News Sitemap with required tags: publication_name, language, publication_date.
• Submitted both XML and News sitemaps to GSC.
• Set up cron job to regenerate sitemaps every hour.
• Used Google News Publisher Center to register for inclusion.

Result: Articles appeared in Google News within 2–4 hours of publication. Indexing rate remained above 95%. Traffic from Google News increased by 40% in the first quarter.

FAQs

Do I need a sitemap if my site is small?

Even small sites benefit from sitemaps. While Google can often crawl small sites through internal links, a sitemap ensures all pages are discovered quickly—especially if your site has complex navigation, uses JavaScript-heavy frameworks, or has pages that aren’t linked from the homepage.

How often should I resubmit my sitemap?

You don’t need to resubmit unless you’ve changed the sitemap’s location or structure. Google automatically checks your sitemap periodically. However, if you’ve added a large number of new pages (e.g., 1,000+), manually resubmitting can speed up indexing.

What if Google doesn’t index all my URLs?

Indexing is not guaranteed. Google prioritizes pages based on quality, relevance, and authority. Common reasons for non-indexing include:

• Low-quality or duplicate content.
• Thin content (few words, low value).
• Blocked by robots.txt or noindex tags.
• Slow page speed or poor mobile experience.
• Server errors during crawl.

Check the “Excluded” section in GSC for specific reasons and fix them.

Can I submit a sitemap for a subdirectory?

No. Sitemaps must be hosted in the root directory of the domain they represent. If you have a subdirectory like https://yoursite.com/blog, you cannot submit /blog/sitemap.xml. Instead, generate a sitemap that includes only URLs under that subdirectory but host it at the root (e.g., https://yoursite.com/blog-sitemap.xml).

Does a sitemap improve my rankings?

No, not directly. A sitemap doesn’t boost your rankings. Its purpose is to help Google discover and index your pages more efficiently. Once indexed, rankings depend on content quality, backlinks, user experience, and relevance to search queries.

What’s the difference between a sitemap and robots.txt?

They serve different purposes:

• Sitemap tells Google: “Here are all the pages you should crawl.”
• robots.txt tells Google: “Here are the pages you should NOT crawl.”

They work together. Use robots.txt to block low-value pages (e.g., admin panels, filters) and sitemap to guide Google toward high-value pages.

How long does it take for Google to index my sitemap?

Processing time varies:

• Small sites (under 1,000 URLs): 24–72 hours.
• Medium sites (1,000–50,000 URLs): 3–7 days.
• Large sites (50,000+ URLs): Up to 2 weeks.

Speed depends on your site’s authority, crawl budget, and server response time. High-authority sites are crawled faster.

Can I submit multiple sitemaps?

Yes. You can submit up to 500 sitemaps per property in Google Search Console. Use a sitemap index file to organize them efficiently.

What happens if my sitemap has errors?

Google will notify you in Search Console under “Sitemaps” with error messages like “Could not fetch” or “Invalid URL.” Fix the errors, re-upload the corrected file, and resubmit. Google will re-crawl your sitemap within days.

Conclusion

Submitting a sitemap to Google is one of the most effective, low-effort SEO actions you can take. It ensures your content is discovered, indexed, and eligible to appear in search results—even when your internal linking structure is imperfect. By following the step-by-step guide in this tutorial, you’ve learned how to generate, upload, validate, and submit your sitemap using industry-standard tools and best practices.

Remember: A sitemap is not a magic bullet. It works best when combined with high-quality content, fast page speed, strong internal linking, and regular technical audits. Monitor your sitemap’s performance in Google Search Console, fix errors promptly, and update it as your site grows.

Whether you’re running a personal blog, an online store, or a global news platform, mastering sitemap submission gives you greater control over your site’s visibility in Google. Start today—your next piece of content deserves to be found.