craig
6eff12e8ac
SmartCrawl plugin reference (11 docs): - Overview, configuration, titles & meta, schema, sitemaps, social/OG, redirects, breadcrumbs, content analysis, hooks/filters, known issues SEO strategy playbook (6 docs): - Keyword research, per-page-type selection, on-page optimization, local SEO, technical SEO, content strategy Reusable templates (3): - Site audit checklist, keyword research worksheet, page optimization checklist Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
109 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
109 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
# Sitemaps
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SmartCrawl generates three types of sitemaps: XML, Google News, and Image. All are configured under the Sitemap module.
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## XML Sitemap
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### Configuration
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| Setting | Recommended Value |
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|---------|------------------|
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| Enable XML Sitemap | Yes |
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| Post types included | Posts, Pages, Products, public custom post types |
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| Taxonomies included | Categories (yes), Tags (only if indexed), custom taxonomies |
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| Max URLs per file | Default (auto-splits into multiple files) |
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| Notify search engines | Automatic |
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### Access
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Your sitemap is at: `https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml`
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SmartCrawl auto-generates a sitemap index that links to individual sitemaps per post type and taxonomy.
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### Exclusions
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Exclude specific content by:
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- **Post/page ID** — Enter IDs in the exclusion list
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- **Custom URLs** — Add specific URLs to exclude
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- **Post type** — Uncheck entire post types from the include list
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**Important:** If you set a page to `noindex`, also exclude it from the sitemap. SmartCrawl does **not** do this automatically.
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### Limitation
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SmartCrawl limits sitemaps to **1,000 most recent posts** per post type to prevent memory errors on large sites. If you have more than 1,000 posts, older content may not appear in the sitemap.
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## Google News Sitemap
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Enable this only if the site publishes news-style content that qualifies for Google News.
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### Requirements for Google News
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- Content must be timely, original news articles
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- Published within the last 2 days (Google News requirement)
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- Site should be registered with Google News Publisher Center
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### Configuration
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- Enable the Google News Sitemap toggle
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- Select which post types to include (usually just Posts)
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- Verify at `https://yoursite.com/news-sitemap.xml`
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## Image Sitemap
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One-click enable. Tells Google about images on your pages for Google Images indexing.
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### When to Enable
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- Sites with significant visual content (portfolios, galleries, products)
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- Sites where image search traffic is valuable
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- Always enable for WooCommerce sites (product images)
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### What It Includes
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SmartCrawl adds image entries to your existing XML sitemap (not a separate file). Each page entry includes its images with:
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- Image URL
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- Image title
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- Image caption (if set)
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## Sitemap Submission
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### Google Search Console
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1. Go to Search Console > Sitemaps
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2. Enter `sitemap.xml` in the "Add a new sitemap" field
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3. Click Submit
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4. Verify status shows "Success" after Google fetches it
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### Bing Webmaster Tools
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1. Go to Bing Webmaster Tools > Sitemaps
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2. Submit `https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml`
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### robots.txt
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Add a sitemap directive to robots.txt (use full absolute URL):
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```
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Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
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```
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## After Making Changes
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When you add/remove content or change sitemap settings:
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1. Use the **"New Crawl" button** in SmartCrawl's sitemap tab to notify Google
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2. Or wait for automatic notification (if set to Automatic mode)
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3. Verify the updated sitemap at `yoursite.com/sitemap.xml`
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4. Check Google Search Console > Sitemaps for any errors
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## Troubleshooting
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| Issue | Fix |
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|-------|-----|
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| Sitemap returns 404 | Flush permalinks (Settings > Permalinks > Save) |
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| Post type missing from sitemap | Check SmartCrawl Sitemap settings — ensure the post type is included |
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| Noindexed pages appearing in sitemap | Manually exclude them by ID — SmartCrawl doesn't auto-exclude noindexed content |
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| WPML duplicate URLs | Known issue — duplicate homepage URLs in sitemap when using WPML |
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| Sitemap too large / memory error | SmartCrawl limits to 1,000 posts — contact WPMU DEV support for large sites |
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