XML Sitemaps

An XML sitemap is a file that tells search engines (e.g. Google) which pages exist on your website and how they relate to each other. It helps search engines crawl (review/index) your site more effectively, particularly if your site is newer, larger, or doesn't have many external links pointing to it.

In most cases, your website will benefit from having a sitemap. If your site has fewer than 500 pages and is well linked internally, Google will likely find your pages on its own - but having a sitemap doesn't hurt and can speed things along.

1. From the main Ivorey™ menu, go to Settings > Domains > locate your connected domain > and click [Manage]

2. On the Connected Products page, find your website, funnel, blog or store > click the [⋮] three dots button next to it > and click [XML Sitemap]

3. In the XML Sitemap panel, select the pages you want to include:

   1. Tick the checkbox next to a website or funnel name, to include all of its pages at once

   2. Or click the arrow icon on the right to expand the list > and select individual pages
      
      Note: Selecting pages here tells Google which pages are important for that domain. Leaving a page out of your sitemap does not prevent it from being indexed - if other pages on your site link to it, Google may still find it.

   3. Click [Proceed]

4. Click the [Add New] button, at the top right, to create a new sitemap - or if you are looking to edit an existing sitemap, click the [⋮] three dots on the right hand side, to edit the URL

5. Fill in your sitemap details:

   1. Enter a Custom Path for your sitemap (e.g. sitemap.xml)
      
      Note: This will be added as a path, to the end of your domain URL (e.g. yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) so that Google will have a link to upload your sitemap on.

   2. Note or adjust the Last Modified Date

   3. Click the [⋮] three dots button, to edit or delete the sitemap at any time

6. Click [Generate & Save]

7. A confirmation message will appear with the full URL of your sitemap > right click to copy this URL and save it, to be used in the next step

1. Go to Google Search Console > sign in > click on the Search property drop-down, on the left of your screen > and select the property (domain) that matches your Ivorey™ website

2. In the left-hand menu, click Sitemaps > and in the Add a new sitemap field, paste in the URL path for your sitemap (e.g. yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml)
   
   Note: If you ever change the URL path, remember to resubmit the updated URL to Google Search Console here.

3. Click [Submit]

Note: Google does not re-crawl a sitemap every time your site is visited. Once submitted, you only need to resubmit if you make changes to the sitemap (e.g. if you update the custom path). Blog post sitemaps update automatically when posts are created, updated, or deleted.

If your sitemap looks empty, this usually means the sitemap hasn't been generated yet. Once you have clicked [Generate & Save], the sitemap should populate with your selected pages.

Yes, to edit a sitemap, return to Settings > Domains > [Manage] > and click [XML Sitemap] next to the relevant asset. Click the [⋮] three dots button next to your sitemap to edit the pages included and update the custom URL path, modified date or to delete it entirely. If you change the URL path, remember to resubmit the updated URL to Google Search Console.

Yes, you can create multiple sitemaps for a single domain - for example, one for your main website and one for a specific funnel. Each sitemap is listed in the XML Sitemap panel with its own custom path and last modified date. Just make sure each sitemap has a unique path, as using the same path twice will overwrite your existing sitemap.

Once submitted, you can monitor your sitemap from the Sitemaps section in Google Search Console. After Google has crawled your site, you'll see data including the number of pages discovered, crawl status, and any errors. This may take a few days to appear.

Removing a page from your sitemap tells Google it's less of a priority, but if other pages on your site link to it, Google may still find and crawl it.