Submitting Your Sitemap to Google Search Console
Your WordPress website automatically generates a sitemap. The URL is typically one of the following (depending on which SEO plugin is installed):
- Yoast SEO:
yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml - Rank Math:
yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml - WordPress default:
yoursite.com/wp-sitemap.xml
To check yours, simply type your domain followed by /sitemap_index.xml into your browser. If you see an XML file listing your pages, that’s your sitemap.
If that doesn’t work, try /wp-sitemap.xml instead. One of these will display your sitemap.
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows you how your website performs in search results:
- Go to search.google.com/search-console
- Sign in with the Google account that has access to your website’s Search Console property
- Select your website from the property list (if you manage multiple sites)
If your site isn’t set up in Google Search Console yet, see our article on Verifying Your Site with Google Search Console first.
Once you’re in Google Search Console:
- In the left sidebar, click Sitemaps (under the Index section)
- In the Add a new sitemap field at the top, enter your sitemap URL (e.g.,
sitemap_index.xml) - Click Submit
- Google will confirm that the sitemap has been successfully submitted
Google will now periodically check your sitemap for new and updated pages. This doesn’t happen instantly — it can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days for Google to crawl and index your pages.
After submitting, Google will show the status of your sitemap on the Sitemaps page:
- Success — the sitemap was read and processed. You’ll see the number of discovered URLs.
- Has errors — Google found problems with some URLs. Click for details.
- Couldn’t fetch — Google couldn’t access the sitemap file. This usually means the URL is incorrect or the sitemap is blocked by robots.txt.
A successful submission with discovered URLs means Google knows about your pages. Over time, the Coverage or Pages report in Search Console will show you which pages are indexed, which have issues, and which have been excluded.
In most cases, you don’t need to resubmit your sitemap — Google checks it regularly and picks up changes automatically. However, you should resubmit if:
- You’ve made major structural changes to your site (added lots of new pages, restructured URLs)
- Your sitemap URL has changed (e.g., after switching SEO plugins)
- Google Search Console is showing indexing issues and you’ve fixed them
- You’ve launched a new section of the site and want Google to discover it quickly
To resubmit, simply go to the Sitemaps page in Search Console and submit the URL again. Google will re-crawl it.
If you need help with Search Console or want to discuss your site’s search performance, please contact InnerMedia support.
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