In this video, part 8 of the local seo tutorial, we learn what an XML site map is, how to check if you have one and how to submit it to Google Search Console.
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Read full transcript of What is an XML site map
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What is a site map?
Michael Zittel : SEO speaker (00:00):
Hey, it's Mike with Serr.biz Search engine ranking rules, S E R R B I Z. And today we're gonna finish up what is SEO code with the last bit of important code that you need to know about to make sure that you have on your website. And that is an XML site map. Let's take a look at what that is. Okay. So an XML site map is a little bit of specialized code. That is basically just an index of all the pages on your website that you want the search engines to find. The way you tell, if you have XL site map is to use the industry standard, which is site map, which we can see right up here, we type sitemap.xml.
How do I check if I have an XML site map?
Michael Zittel : SEO speaker (00:54):
You should get a page that looks something like this. And the serr.biz case we use a component tool on Joomla to generate the site map for us. And this is the end result over on the WordPress site that we operate. This is a more traditional looking version of an XML site map. And you can tell it's pretty geeky <laugh> when you see this, It's not so useful from standard human using point of view. But Google really likes it. Now, once you have a site map for your website and most content management systems will have it created automatically like WordPress over here did, or there's a component you can get or a plug in that will generate it for you. If you don't have a CMS and you're just static, HTML webpages there's a number of free tools out there that will crawl your site and generate an XML formatted site map.
How do I submit a site map to Google Search Console?
Michael Zittel : SEO speaker (01:55):
Now, once you have your site map, what you need to do is go over to Google search console. That's an important phrase that, you know, Google search console, it's not just a phrase, it's a platform, it's a tool. And what the Google search console does is lets you submit your site map to Google which tells Google Bot to come read your site and find all your pages and index it. And get you found and seen in Google search results. We're gonna do a whole tutorial. <Laugh> on Google search console at some point. But for now in this context, once you have your site map created, and you know, it exists, you go to Google search console, you go to site maps down here and then you just add site map.xml the space right here. Then hit submit. Once you've submitted it, move myself outta the way once you've submitted it you will see that status right here.
Michael Zittel : SEO speaker (03:01):
It was either successful or not. It'll tell you how many discovered URLs there were and then deeper in the search console you'll get all sorts of other information about search volume positioning which pages are showing up how many clicks you got. Search console is also awesome because it'll help you debug your site and make sure it's responsive, mobile friendly, et cetera. So that is what an XML site map is. If you don't have one, get one and be sure to submit it to Google search console tip. You can also use the same site map to submit to Bing if you like, which I recommend. Okay, that's the end of the first C of CCB, which was code SEO code. And the site map is the last thing you need to know about as a local business owner. Next up, we're gonna talk about the second C, which is content SEO content. What is that? That's the next video. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. We'll answer as soon as possible. If you have a specific topic you'd like us to talk about, please leave that in a comment below as well. Thanks for watching. My name is Mike with Serr.biz Search engine ranking rules.
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