How to Create a Sitemap in WordPress 

If you’re managing multiple client websites, chances are you’ve asked, “How do I create a sitemap in WordPress that scales across projects?” Whether you’re optimizing for Google, Bing, or internal UX, a sitemap is essential for structured visibility. It helps search engines crawl your site intelligently—and with faster indexing, you win better rankings and traffic.

For WordPress agencies, the challenge is not just to create a sitemap in WordPress, but to automate, test, and scale this process efficiently across many sites. 

What Is a Sitemap in WordPress?

A sitemap in WordPress is a file that lists all your important content—like pages, posts, custom post types, and even media files—so that search engines can easily index them. There are two main types:

• XML Sitemaps (for search engines)
  
• HTML Sitemaps (for human visitors)
  

When people search how to create a sitemap in WordPress, they typically refer to the XML sitemap, which looks like a structured list of URLs. It tells search engines like Google when a page was last updated, how often it changes, and how important it is relative to other pages.

Here is an example of an XML WordPress sitemap for your understanding. 

Bonus Tip: If you’re testing a client site on InstaWP, you can instantly preview XML or HTML sitemaps using the staging URL, without going live.

Does WordPress Create a Sitemap Automatically?

Yes—and no. Since WordPress version 5.5, core WordPress automatically generates a basic XML sitemap at the URL: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

This default sitemap includes:

• Posts
  
• Pages
  
• Categories
  
• Tags
  
• Custom post types (if registered properly)
  

However, if you’re using an SEO plugin—or managing complex sites—this default setup may be incomplete or overwritten.

Why WordPress Agencies Should Care About WordPress Sitemaps

If you’re building, maintaining, or scaling websites for clients, knowing how to create a sitemap in WordPress isn’t just an SEO task—it’s a foundational step toward search visibility and technical excellence. A properly configured sitemap WordPress setup can transform how search engines and users interact with your content.

Here’s why it matters:

Faster Indexing = Faster ROI for Clients

When your clients launch a new product page, publish a blog, or restructure their site, an updated WordPress sitemap ensures that search engines like Google and Bing find these changes immediately. That means:

• New content appears in search results faster
  
• Seasonal or time-sensitive campaigns get traction sooner
  
• There’s less dependence on external backlinks for crawling
  

With tools like Google Search Console, you can even track sitemap performance and monitor how many URLs are being indexed—giving agencies a clear feedback loop for SEO efforts.

Better Technical SEO Audits

Knowing how do I create a sitemap in WordPress is critical for SEO audits. Search engine crawlers rely on sitemaps to understand your site’s architecture. Agencies can use the sitemap to:

• Spot orphaned pages (important URLs missing from internal linking)
  
• Validate content silos and topic clusters
  
• Provide clients with tangible SEO improvements during monthly reports
  

Support for Advanced Sitemap Types

Many clients need more than just basic page and post indexing. Advanced sitemaps unlock powerful SEO opportunities:

• Image Sitemaps: Improve visibility on Google Images for photographers, ecommerce, or real estate clients
  
• Video Sitemaps: Help video-based content appear in rich search results and YouTube suggestions
  
• News Sitemaps: Required for sites publishing Google News-approved content—especially critical for digital magazines or fast-paced blogs
  

These aren’t generated by default, which is why agencies often deploy plugins like Rank Math or Yoast SEO Premium to tailor sitemaps precisely.

Create a staging site now to test these sitemap types in isolated environments without affecting the live site—ideal for experimentation or pre-launch QA.

How to View or Enable WordPress’s Default Sitemap

If you’re wondering how to create a sitemap in WordPress without a plugin, the good news is—you may not need to do anything at all. Since WordPress 5.5, the core system automatically generates a basic XML sitemap. This means most modern WordPress installations already include a sitemap out of the box.

But there’s a catch.

Many agencies manage websites using SEO plugins or custom themes, and these tools often override or disable the default sitemap. So it’s important to verify whether it’s active and visible.

How to Check if Your WordPress Sitemap Is Active

Follow these simple steps to confirm if your site has a built-in sitemap WordPress structure in place:

1. Open your browser and go to:
   https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
   
2. If you see a structured list of URLs grouped by post type (e.g., pages, posts, categories), you’re all set.

3. If you see a 404 error or an empty page, the sitemap may be disabled. Don’t worry—you can fix it easily.

How to Create XML and HTML Sitemaps in WordPress

Once you’ve confirmed whether your default sitemap exists, the next step is customizing or extending it to fit your site structure. WordPress generates basic XML sitemaps automatically, but agencies often need more control—especially when managing large, content-heavy, or multilingual websites.

This section explains how to create both XML and HTML sitemaps in WordPress, with and without plugins, and how tools like InstaWP help you validate the output before deploying it to live environments.

What Is an XML Sitemap?

An XML sitemap is primarily used by search engines. It lists URLs on your site along with metadata like the last modified date and update frequency. This helps Google and Bing crawl your site more efficiently.

How to Create a WordPress XML Sitemap? 

You can easily create a WordPress XML sitemap using WordPress core or a WordPress XML Sitemap Generator. Here is how you can proceed with both methods. 

Method 1: Create an XML Sitemap Using WordPress Core

If you don’t need advanced features, rely on WordPress’s native sitemap function:

1. WordPress will generate a basic XML sitemap by default.
   
2. Visit https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml to verify.
   
3. No plugin needed unless you need to manage custom post types or taxonomy exclusions.
   

For agencies managing multiple sites, a WordPress staging site helps you test XML output without affecting production. 

Method 2: Create an XML Sitemap Using Plugins

When managing SEO-heavy projects, use one of the best XML sitemap generators to build customizable sitemaps. For the sake of this guide, we’re using the All-in-One SEO plugin. During the set-up, you need to enable WordPress sitemaps. 

• Go to All in One SEO → Sitemaps

• Customize sitemap types and enable advanced sitemap formats

InstaWP Tip: Save a version of your site to compare sitemap configurations across plugin versions. Test compatibility before updating.

What Is an HTML Sitemap?

An HTML sitemap is designed for human visitors. It improves navigation by displaying a structured list of links to pages, posts, and other content.

This is especially useful for:

• Large sites where the menus can’t list all pages
  
• Accessibility compliance
  
• Internal linking and user engagement
  

How to Create an HTML Sitemap in WordPress?

Here is how you can create an HTML sitemap in WordPress. 

Method 1: Use a Shortcode Block 

If hosted on WordPress.com, you can add an HTML sitemap easily:

1. Go to Pages → Add New
   
2. Add a Shortcode block
   
3. Paste [sitemap] into the block
   
4. Preview and publish the page
   

This generates a hierarchical list of pages.

Method 2: Use a Plugin

For self-hosted sites, try HTML sitemap plugins such as Simple Sitemap/ 

• Go to Settings → Simple Sitemap
  
• Choose whether to show pages, posts, or categories
  
• Insert via Gutenberg block or shortcode [simple-sitemap]
  

Bonus: Combining XML + HTML Sitemaps for Full Coverage

Agencies should consider implementing both XML and HTML sitemaps:

• XML for search engine crawlers
  
• HTML for users, accessibility, and internal linking
  

This approach is particularly effective for:

• Ecommerce sites with many product categories
  
• Blogs with hundreds of posts
  
• Multi-author publications
  

Fixing Common Issues with WordPress Sitemaps

If you create sitemap for WordPress and it doesn’t work, use the steps below to troubleshoot:

Method 1: Check Search Engine Visibility Settings

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
   
2. Navigate to Settings → Reading
   
3. Look for the checkbox that says: “Discourage search engines from indexing this site.”
   
4. Uncheck it if it’s enabled.

5. Click Save Changes
   

Method 2: Look for Conflicting Plugins

If your site uses plugins like Yoast SEO, Rank Math, or All in One SEO, they may manage sitemaps independently.

To verify:

1. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins
   
2. Check if one of the above SEO plugins is active
   
3. Visit the plugin’s settings and navigate to the Sitemap tab
   
4. Enable or regenerate the sitemap from within the plugin dashboard
   

These plugins often use URLs like:

• yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml (Yoast)
  
• yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml (Rank Math)
  

InstaWP makes plugin testing seamless. You can duplicate the live environment using its Clone Site tool and confirm which plugin setup best fits your SEO workflow.

How to Check If the Sitemap Is Submitted to Search Engines

So you’ve successfully created an XML sitemap—now what? To ensure your content is crawled and indexed faster, the next step is to submit your WordPress sitemap to search engines like Google and Bing.

While modern search engines can discover your sitemap automatically, manual submission gives you more control and immediate visibility into crawl status, index errors, and site health—all critical for agency reporting.

Whether you’re asking how do I create a sitemap in WordPress or what should I do after I create sitemap WordPress-style, this step is key to closing the SEO loop.

Why Manual Submission Matters for Agencies

Manual submission:

• Ensures faster indexing of new or migrated sites
  
• Allows tracking crawl errors or sitemap coverage
  
• Enables clients to monitor SEO health via dashboards
  
• Helps agencies deliver transparent performance reports
  

Submit Your Sitemap to Google Search Console (Step-by-Step)

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Google Search results.

Steps to Submit Your Sitemap:

1. Go to Google Search Console
   
2. Select your website from the property list.
   (If it’s not there, verify ownership by uploading an HTML file or using DNS verification.)
   
3. From the left sidebar, click Sitemaps
   

In the Add a new sitemap field, type:

sitemap.xml

 or

sitemap_index.xml

4. Click Submit
   

Within a few seconds, you’ll see the sitemap status under “Submitted sitemaps.” If there are any issues—like parsing errors or unreachable URLs—you’ll see alerts here.

Agency Tip: Set up Search Console access for your clients and send monthly WordPress maintenance reports. 

Submit Your Sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing remains an important search engine, especially for desktop-heavy audiences and corporate markets. Submitting your sitemap to Bing is just as simple.

Steps to Submit:

1. Go to Bing Webmaster Tools
   
2. Log in using your Microsoft or Google account
   
3. If your site is already verified in Google Search Console, you can import data directly
   
4. Once your site is verified, click Sitemaps in the left menu
   
5. Click Submit sitemap
   

Enter:

https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

 or

https://yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml

7. Click Submit
   

Bing will display crawl success, last read date, and any validation issues, just like Google.

InstaWP Workflow Tip: Before submitting to Bing or Google, test your sitemap in a WordPress staging environment. You can use the Magic Login and Error Log Viewer to diagnose potential XML issues before going public.

Ready to Build Smarter Sitemaps? 

Creating a sitemap in WordPress isn’t just a technical requirement—it’s a strategic advantage. Whether you’re running one site or managing dozens of client projects, having a solid sitemap structure ensures your content gets seen, crawled, and ranked where it matters.

From enabling the native WordPress sitemap to customizing XML and HTML sitemaps with plugins like Yoast or Rank Math, every decision you make helps improve site visibility and SEO performance.

But here’s the challenge: breaking a live site with a misconfigured plugin or malformed sitemap can have real consequences. That’s why WordPress agencies use InstaWP to test everything first.

You can:

• Launch a WP staging site in seconds
  
• Preview XML or HTML sitemaps before going live
  
• Save winning configurations as Snapshots for future client work
  

Ready to try this with zero risk? Launch a free WP sandbox site on InstaWP and test your sitemap setup today—before search engines see anything.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)