How to Add an HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress

ByAbhishek padhi Updated on
How to Add an HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress

An HTML sitemap is a page on your website that lists all of the pages and posts on your site in a hierarchical format. It’s a useful tool for both users and search engines, as it helps users find content on your site more efficiently and helps search engines understand the structure and organization of your content.

Don’t confuse it with an XML sitemap. An XML sitemap is solely used for indexing in Google and is designed for search engine bots. Where An HTML sitemap is designed for Actual visitors of the website.

In this article, I will show you how you can create an HTML sitemap page on your Wordpress website. But, before that let’s understand

What are the benefits of an HTML sitemap?

  • Improved navigation: HTML sitemaps make it easier for users to find content on your site, especially if your site has a lot of pages or if your navigation menu is not comprehensive.
  • Increased crawlability: Search engines use sitemaps to understand the structure and organization of your site’s content. By providing a sitemap, you can help search engines discover and crawl more of your site’s pages, which can improve your search engine rankings.
  • Enhanced user experience: A sitemap can improve the user experience on your site by providing a clear and organized overview of your content. This can help users find what they’re looking for more quickly and easily.
  • Better indexation: Sitemaps can help search engines index your site more efficiently, which can improve your visibility in search results.
  • Enhanced accessibility: Sitemaps can also make your site more accessible to users with disabilities, as they provide an alternative way to navigate your site.
  • Improved SEO: An HTML sitemap can help search engines like Google and Bing crawl and index all the pages on your website. This can improve the visibility and ranking of your website in search results.

Overall, an HTML sitemap can be a valuable tool for both users and search engines, and it’s a good idea to consider adding one to your site to improve navigation, increase crawlability, and enhance the user experience.

How to create an HTML sitemap page in Wordpress?

Here’s how you can add an HTML sitemap page to your WordPress site:

YouTube video
  • Install and activate the “RankMath SEO” plugin on your Wordpress website.
  • Go to RankMath > Sitemap settings from the dashboard
  • Now choose the HTML sitemap option and turn on the sitemap option.
  • Create a blank page and name it an “HTML sitemap”
  • Now you can select a blank page as a sitemap page or you can copy the shortcode and paste it into your sitemap page.
  • Now you have successfully added the HTML sitemap page to your Wordpress website.
Rankmath HTML sitemap in WordPress
How to enable HTML sitemap Using RankMath Plugin

Alternatively, if you are using any other SEO plugin in your website then you can either migrate your SEO data to the rankmath plugin or you can use a dedicated HTML sitemap plugin in your website.

Alternative Method for Adding HTML Sitemap Page

You can also use several HTML sitemap generator plugins. Follow the alternative way to add an HTML sitemap in Wordpress as shown below.

Simple-Sitemap–Create-a-Responsive-HTML-Sitemap-WordPress-plugin
Simple Sitemap – Create a Responsive HTML Sitemap Plugin

Install and activate the WordPress plugin “Simple Sitemap.” This plugin allows you to easily create and customize an HTML sitemap for your site.

After activating the plugin, go to the Pages section in your WordPress dashboard and create a new page called “HTML sitemap”.

Now click on the plus icon and search for the sitemap block that comes with this plugin.

How to Add an HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress

Now click on the “simple sitemap Group” to add the links with category groups.

HTML sitemap page in wordpress
Preview of Simple sitemap plugin

To display links on all pages you need to add the shortcode [simple-sitemap] to the page. This will insert your page’s link in this HTML sitemap page.

Shortcodes for sitemap

Publish and view the page on your site to see your sitemap in action.

FAQs on HTML Sitemap

While an HTML sitemap is not strictly necessary for your website, it can be a helpful tool for both users and search engines. If you have a small website with a few pages, an HTML sitemap might not be necessary. However, if you have a large website with many pages and posts, or if you want to improve the usability and search engine visibility of your site, an HTML sitemap can be a valuable addition.

Yes, you can have multiple sitemaps on your website if you have a large number of pages or posts, or if you have different types of content that you want to organize separately. For example, you might have one sitemap for your blog posts and another sitemap for your product pages. To create multiple sitemaps, you can use the Rank math SEO plugin.

You don’t have to manually update the HTML sitemap as it works automatically. when you publish any new post or page, it will be added to the HTML sitemap automatically.

Yes, you can exclude specific pages or posts from your HTML sitemap if needed. You can see the exclude option in both Rankmath and Simple Sitemap plugins.

An HTML sitemap can be beneficial for both users and search engines. It helps users find content on your site more easily, and it helps search engines understand the structure and organization of your content, which can improve your search engine rankings.

Conclusion

In conclusion, an HTML sitemap is a must-have page that helps search engines understand the structure and organization of your content.

Adding an HTML sitemap to your WordPress site is a straightforward process, and it offers several benefits, including improved navigation, increased crawlability, enhanced user experience, better indexation, and enhanced accessibility. If you want to improve the usability and search engine visibility of your site, adding an HTML sitemap is a great place to start.

I recommend you use the RankMath SEO plugin to generate the Simple HTML sitemap on your Wordpress website.

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Avatar of Abhishek padhi

Hello there. I am Abhishek Padhi, an Indian digital entrepreneur. With a handful of years of practice and experiment, I currently share top-notch Tutorials related to Blogging & SEO.

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4 Comments

  1. Can you do a tutorial on how you make featured images? Do you do them yourself or go on fiveer?

    Reply

    1. I already made 2 videos on how to design featured image in canva. This is the 2nd part

      YouTube video

      Reply
  2. Avatar of Faisal Bhutta Faisal Bhutta says:

    OMG Thanks Abhishek Padhi bro really really thnxxxcxxx

    Reply

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