How to Create and Submit an XML Sitemap

An XML sitemap is a file that lists every important page on your website and tells search engines like Google and Bing where to find them. Without a sitemap, search engine crawlers have to discover your pages through links — which can miss pages and slow down indexing. A sitemap accelerates the process and ensures Google and Bing know about every page you want indexed. Here's how to create one and submit it to both platforms.

Does Your Site Already Have a Sitemap?

Many websites generate sitemaps automatically. Before creating one, check if you already have one by visiting: yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml or yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml . If you see a structured XML file with page URLs, your site already has a sitemap and you can skip directly to submission.

If you're on WordPress with Yoast SEO or RankMath installed, your sitemap is automatically generated and kept up to date. Wix and Squarespace also auto-generate sitemaps. If you're on a custom platform, you may need to create one manually.

Creating a Sitemap: No-Code Options

For WordPress: If you don't already have an SEO plugin, install Yoast SEO (free). It automatically generates a sitemap at yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml. You can configure which post types and pages are included in the plugin settings.

For any website: Free tools like XML-sitemaps.com will crawl your website (up to 500 pages on the free tier) and generate a downloadable sitemap file. Upload the file to your website's root directory (where your index.html file lives) and it becomes accessible at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.

For small sites: If your site has fewer than 20 pages, you can create a sitemap manually using a text editor, following the simple XML format. Each page entry includes the URL, last modification date, and optionally a priority and change frequency. The format is well-documented at sitemaps.org.

Submitting to Google Search Console

Log in to Google Search Console at search.google.com/search-console. Select your property, go to Sitemaps in the left sidebar, and enter the URL path of your sitemap (e.g., sitemap.xml or sitemap_index.xml). Click Submit. Google will begin processing the sitemap immediately and show you the submission status within a few minutes.

Check the Sitemaps report regularly to confirm Google has processed your sitemap without errors. The report shows how many URLs were submitted and how many are indexed — if there's a significant gap, it signals indexing issues that need investigation.

Submitting to Bing Webmaster Tools

Log in to Bing Webmaster Tools at bing.com/webmasters. Go to Sitemaps in the sidebar and click "Submit sitemap." Enter your sitemap URL and click submit. Bing will process it and begin indexing the listed pages. If you're using the Google Search Console import option in Bing, your sitemap may already be imported — check the Sitemaps section to confirm.

Best Practices for Your Sitemap

Only include pages you want indexed — don't include thank-you pages, admin pages, duplicate pages, or pages with noindex tags. Keep your sitemap updated: every time you publish a new page or significantly update an existing one, your sitemap should reflect the new modification date. Most SEO plugins handle this automatically. If you're managing it manually, update the file at least monthly.

A sitemap paired with properly submitted Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools accounts is the baseline technical setup every service business website should have. PaperClick Marketing handles the full technical SEO foundation for service businesses — sitemaps, schema, crawl optimization, and everything else that makes your site visible to search engines and AI systems. Let's audit your technical setup.