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  • Install a Google sitemap

    When you’re going somewhere new, you need a map. Even in a city you’re familiar with, you sometimes need a map because it’s impossible to know where everything is. Sure, your map might be in the digital form of Google Maps or Waze, but it’s still a map.

    Google’s web crawlers that index your site are no different. They need maps to chronicle the pages on your site and where to access them. This type of map is called a sitemap.

    If you don’t give the web crawlers a sitemap, it’s kinda like you trying to drive to all the Pizza Huts buffets in Los Angeles without an address or map. Good luck!

    In case you were curious…

    Pizza Hut Map

    So I think we can all agree, your website needs a sitemap. The real question though is…

    How do I install a sitemap on my website?

    You just discovered you don’t have a sitemap installed on your website– YIKES! Installing your sitemap should immediately jump to the top of your to-do list for these two reasons:

    1. The search engines don’t play around
    2. The Pizza Hut buffet can wait

    I’m going to hold your hand and walk you through the necessary steps to get a sitemap on your website.

    Step 1: Sign into Google Webmaster Tools

    Step 2: Once you sign in, click on “Add a Property” and type your URL.

    Add property to Google

    Step 3: Verify that you’re the owner of the site

    You’ll see the following options to verify your site:

     

    Verify your site on Google

    We recommend the Google Analytics method because it’s the easiest.

    Side note: If you don’t have Google Analytics on your website already, stop what you’re doing, step away from your computer, and contact us right now

    Assuming you’ve set up Google Analytics and have “administrator” permissions, you can verify your site ownership instantly.

    Simply choose the Google Analytics option, and click “Verify”

    Step 4: After site verification, on the left column, there is a “Crawl” drop-down menu. Select “Sitemaps”

    Click Sitemaps

    Step 5: Select the red “Add/Test sitemap” button in the top right of the page

    Add your Sitemap

    Step 6: In the text box that appears, type “sitemap.xml” > click “Submit sitemap”

    Sitemap XML

    Step 7 (and final step): Pizza Hut buffet

    It’s recommended to verify both the www and non-www versions of your website.

    The data might not be ready immediately, but check back after a few days.

    Additional resources

    Here are a few additional resources to help you verify your site ownership and establish your XML sitemap.

    And of course, please give us a call at (866) 999-4736 if you have ANY questions regarding sitemaps. We’d love to help.

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