DIY: Creating Sitemap for Blog SEO

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You need to create a sitemap for your Wordpress blog for SEO and as an added user navigation system.  A sitemap generator that dynamically generates and updates itself, as well as creating a valid XML Sitemap is no longer a luxury for the technology challenged.  The best plugin we’ve found is the DD Sitemap Generator Plugin.

Why You Need a Sitemap

A well structured sitemap is an added value for user navigation. While your users will use it less than key features like search, sitemaps are an additional navigation option to help your users find what they need, when they need it.  Users can use the Sitemap page you create on your site to easily navigate all of your content in one place.

Search engine bots will easily find all content (you want them to find) via your sitemap. The easier you make it for search engines to crawl your content, the more likely all your pages will be indexed in Google and other search engines.  Now, that’s not to say that if you don’t have a sitemap your content won’t be indexed.  Again, your job is to create the best case scenario to increase your chances of success.

Why DD Sitemap Generator

Your users and search bots will index your sitemap differently. Your blog readers will access the actual Sitemap page created, as an easy archive of all your content.  Search engines, on the other hand, will access the XML version of your sitemap, as directed by the Robots.txt file.  Its exploration of the sitemap is behind the scenes.

Without being too technical, the sitemap you generate must be accessible at the root directory of your site.  As well, it must be formatted in valid XML and be accessible through our Robots.txt file.

DD Sitemap Generator will take care of your sitemap for users and search engines.

DD Sitemap Generator Plugin

DD Sitemap Generator, once configured will automatically create a user-friendly sitemap page.  In addition it will create the XML Sitemap file needed for the search engines in a completely valid format.  You can also customize your sitemap:

  • customize whether posts and/or pages show on your sitemap page;
  • setup the order and layout of what shows on the sitemap page;
  • customize the navigation from page to page as your sitemap grows;
  • customize the XML Sitemap link location;
  • you can exclude entire categories and individual pages/posts easily;

You simply download it, install it, and customize it… and you’re done.

Sitemap Generator How-To Video

Let’s take a walk-through from download to installation of the DD Sitemap Generator plugin for Wordpress.

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