How To Instantly Improve Your SEO with your Showit Sitemap
Your Showit sitemap is essentially the list of pages/urls that Google can see. In Showit, using the normal setup, Google cannot actually index all of the urls or pages you build.
If Google can’t see it, your customers can’t either, and it’s not showing up in search.
Do I need a Showit sitemap?
Having a Google-friendly sitemap of your website makes it easier for Google to put your URLs in search results.
Think of it this way, instead of letting Google decide what’s important on your site, you’re telling Google what’s important!
Lucky for you, using a sitemap plugin, Showit automatically generates an XML sitemap and all you have to do to take advantage of this is to copy and paste the sitemap URL into Google Search Console.
Submitting a sitemap is beneficial if you have a new website, have several web pages, or frequently update your site, blog regularly, have products, and/or run regular promotions.
Benefits of Sitemaps
Investing time and money into your Showit site with fantastic copy and beautiful designs that increase conversions deserves to be rewarded. Submitting your Showit sitemap on Google Search Console is a great way to ensure your URLs are indexed properly, that it shows up in search results quickly, and that you can gain organic traffic.
What are sitemaps?
Sitemaps are primarily formatted as XML files–only search engine bots can read this file format. Sitemaps always end in ‘.xml’.
- Showit/Wordpress sitemaps can be found by appending the domain name with /sitemap_index.xml or /wp-sitemap.xml.
- Squarespace sitemaps can be found by appending the domain name with /sitemap.xml
“A sitemap is a file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them. Search engines like Google read this file to crawl your site more efficiently. A sitemap tells Google which pages and files you think are important in your site, and also provides valuable information about these files."
Why are sitemaps important?
The Normal XML Sitemap is the most common and provides links to different pages within the site.
When I do Showit SEO projects for wedding industry clients, I utilize 4 types of normal XML sitemaps:
- Post-sitemaps
- Page-sitemaps
- category-sitemaps
- local-sitemaps
These are allhoused in the Sitemap Index: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml.
Types of Sitemaps
There are several types of sitemaps:
- Video Sitemap
- News Sitemap
- Image Sitemap
- Local SItemap
- Page Sitemap
- Post Sitemap
- Category Sitemap
- Tag Sitemap
What do Showit sitemaps look like?
When looking for your sitemap, it may look like one of these three examples.
What Showit pages-sitemaps should look like?
A great Showit site page-sitemap.xml file will look something like this:
Unfortunately, this is how most Showit sitemaps actually look:
How to find My Showit sitemap
If you’re looking for your sitemap, try adding one of these to your primary url:
- /sitemap_index.xml — https://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml
- /wp-sitemap.xml — https://yourdomain.com/wp-sitemap.xml
- /sitemap.xml — https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
Note: When using RankMath on a Showit-Wordpress site, it will generate separate sitemaps for pages, posts, products, categories, etc…
If your Showit sitemap meets any of the following criteria, you need SEO
- Sitemap only includes an xml file that includes the word ‘post’
- Sitemap does not include an xml file that includes the word ‘page(s)’
- Sitemap only includes the home page & /blog/ pages
- Sitemap includes a page called /sample page
What is the best sitemap generator?
For the purpose of keeping this sitemap conversation at an overview, I recommend using one of the following plugins to generate a sitemap for your Showit site.
- RankMath SEO Plugin – https://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml
- Yoast SEO Plugin – https://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml
- Jetpack for Wordpress Plugin – https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
How to create a Showit sitemap
In my opinion, the easiest way to generate a sitemap is to use a plugin like RankMath (affiliate link).
How do I get a sitemap on Showit?
To enable Sitemaps, go to RankMath → Sitemap Settings → click through the various sitemaps to generate XML Sitemaps. Once activated, RankMath will generate the desired sitemaps for you. I recommend using Post Sitemap, Page Sitemap, and Local Sitemap–toggling all other sitemaps off.
How to Configure RankMath SEO Plugin Sitemap Settings
Checking Your Sitemap Before Submitting It to Google
It’s important to check the sitemap for “dead” pages & posts before submitting it to Google Search Console.
Common “dead” pages:
- https://yourdomain.com/sample-page/
- https://yourdomain.com/blog/hello-world/
These are the most common “dead” pages & posts on Wordpress sites & in sitemaps because they are auto generated when you install Wordpress.
How to delete “dead” pages
- Login to Wordpress… https://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/
- Navigate to ‘Pages’
- Delete ‘Sample Page’
- Delete any other bad or irrelevant pages
- Navigate to ‘Posts’
- Delete the post ‘Hello World’
- Delete any other bad or irrelevant posts
Has my sitemap been submitted to Google Search Console?
To find out if your sitemap has been submitted to Google Search Console follow these steps if you already have an account:
- Navigate to search.google.com
- Under ‘Indexing’, select ‘sitemaps’
- Determine if any sitemaps are submitted…do you see any in the list? Are they correct?
How to Submit My Showit Sitemap to Google Search Console for Indexing
If no sitemaps have been submitted, follow these instructions to submit your sitemap to Google Search Console for Indexing.
3 Easy Steps to Submit Sitemaps to Google Search Console
01
Create a free Google Search Console account
02
Under ‘Welcome to Google Search Console’ – ‘Domain’ input your domain. Select Continue.
03
Select ‘Sitemaps’ from the menu to the left & add your Showit sitemap URL where it says ‘Add a new sitemap’ & press Submit
Helpful Tips For Optimizing Your Showit Sitemap For SEO
When you’re ready to make your website SEO-friendly, here are a few tips to consider:
- Find a Showit template. Designs created by experienced SEO professionals already have your pages structured for SEO, so you just need to add the details.
- Get a FREE SEO audit. An audit will show you how your website is performing and provide insights on how to improve its SEO.
- Work with a Showit SEO Expert & Website Designer. If you’re considering building from scratch or relaunching your website with SEO in mind, find a website designer that specializes in brand identity and SEO.
Take your next steps today by connecting with me today and establishing the best move for a search engine optimized website to start generating organic traffic from Google.
Contact me today and/or leave a comment with your questions!
