Do you need to submit a sitemap to Google Search Console?

How exciting! Congratulations on taking a great step to improve your SEO. When you launch or make dramatic changes to your website it’s great to let Google know so they can send some bots out to crawl your website and start ranking you for keywords.

We’re going to cover how to submit not one, but two sitemaps for your Showit site – one for your main site and another for your blog. Let’s go.

If you have a Showit website and a WordPress blog you will need to submit 2x sitemaps. One for each. Showit automatically generates a sitemap of your Showit pages when you publish your site and your SEO plugin will generate one for the blog posts.

Your Showit Sitemap URL

You’ll find your Showit sitemap by going to: yourdomain.com/siteinfo.xml

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Your WordPress Blog Sitemap URL

You’ll find your WordPress Sitemap by going to: http://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml

🔥 Note: Replace “yourdomain” with your domain.

Why You Need To Submit 2 Sitemaps to Google?

If you are using Showit for your website and you have a WordPress Blog, you will need to submit 2 sitemaps to Google. If you only have the Showit website (No Blog) then you will just have to submit the one.

The first sitemap is for your main website, helping Google find and index all your primary pages.

Because your blog is run through WordPress, not Showit you need to submit two. The second sitemap is specifically for your blog content. Since blogs often have regularly updated posts and separate page structures, a dedicated blog sitemap ensures that your latest articles are quickly discovered and indexed by Google.

Step 1: Have You Set Your Google Search Console?

If you have already connected your website and Google Search Console move on to the next step. If you haven’t please follow the instructions on how to do so at the bottom of the article.

Step 2: How Do I Create a Sitemap in Showit?

As mentioned above finding your Showit Sitemap is very easy. Follow the steps below to find your Showit sitemap and your Showit (WordPress) Sitemap for your blogs.

How To Find Your Showit Sitemap URL

Simply type into your search engines: yourdomain.com/siteinfo.xml

A page like this will appear. That’s your sitemap! Now your need to copy the URL and paste it into Google Search Console. The instructions for this is below.

How To Find Your Showit Blog Sitemap URL

Your SEO plugin such as Yoast or Rankmath will generate your blog sitemap for you. To find your blog sitemap search: yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml.

Yoast is automatically installed when you first get your Showit Blog, personally, I prefer Rankmath but both do the job.

This is what your sitemap will look like if you use RankMath.

Step 3: Submit Sitemaps To Google Search Console

Great job. Now on to the last step, actually submitting your sitemaps to Google Search Console so some Google bots will come and crawl your website.

Step 1: Return back to Google Search Console

Step 2: Locate ‘Sitemap’ on the left-hand panel.

Step 3: Now paste your Showit Sitemap link and paste in the section that says ‘Enter Sitemap URL’

Great job! You have done it! Now repeat this with your blog sitemap link if you have a blog.

Note: If your status says ‘Couldn’t fetch’ don’t worry just give it a few minutes, this usually fixes itself and just needs a few moments to propagate.

What Happens If You Don’t Submit A Sitemap?

If you choose not to submit a sitemap for your Showit website or blog, your pages can still be discovered by search engines. Here’s what typically happens:

1. Search Engine Bots and Spiders
   • These are digital crawlers used by search engines. They navigate through your site using internal links to find and index pages.
2. The Role of a Sitemap
   • While bots can find pages on their own, submitting a sitemap accelerates the process. It acts as a direct signal to search engines, highlighting all the pages you want to be indexed.
3. The Impact on SEO
   • Not submitting a sitemap doesn’t mean your site won’t be indexed, but it might take longer for all your content to be found and ranked. Especially for new or frequently updated pages, a sitemap ensures quicker discovery and indexing.

In short, while your site can still be found without a sitemap, providing one to search engines like Google helps move things along more efficiently, ensuring your content gets the visibility it deserves.

If you are looking to further improve your SEO check out How to Set up your SEO on Showit.

When To Submit A Sitemap?

Submitting a sitemap for your Showit site doesn’t have to be a frequent task. Here’s when you should consider it:

1. Initial Submission
   • You only need to submit your sitemap to search engines like Google once, ideally right after your site goes live or after major changes.
2. After Significant Updates
   • If you add new pages or undergo a major redesign, it’s a good idea to resubmit your sitemap. This helps search engines quickly recognize and index the new or updated content.

In essence, while a one-time submission is often sufficient, updating your sitemap submission after significant changes ensures your website’s latest version is accurately reflected and indexed in search engines.

What Is A Sitemap?

Think of a sitemap as the blueprint of a house. Just like a blueprint shows the layout of each room and how they connect, a sitemap displays all the pages on your website and how they link together. It gives search engines like Google a clear plan of your site’s structure, making it easier for them to find and index every room (or page) in your website house. This way, when someone searches for something you offer, the search engine knows exactly where to find it on your site.

What Is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that offers a range of features to help you monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google Search results. I love this tool because you can see your rankings in Google without having to pay for SEO tools such as Semrush or UberSuggest.

How To Connect Google Search Console To Your Website

Step 1: Go to https://search.google.com/u/1/search-console.

Step 2: Sign in to Google using your business account.

Step 3: The below screen will appear. Use the Domain side option. Add your URL and press continue.

Step 4: The next screen will provide instructions to add the TXT or CNAME setting to your DNS Record. You will be able to access your DNS setting where you bought your domain aka URL such as GoDaddy and Squarespace domains.

If this step scares you just pay someone to do it for you. You only need to set-up once and it’s done forever. We set up for clients with the 7-day Intensive service but you can find other people that could do just this service.

For more SEO Tools for Small Businesses Head to this article.