How to Disable the Default WordPress Sitemap for beginners ?

WordPress is an open-source Content Management System based on PHP and MySQL and is used to create a dynamic website. It was developed by Matt Mullenweg and written in PHP. WordPress is one of the most popular sites that allows customizing and managing the website from its back-end content management system. According to a study conducted by Yoast, one of the leading SEO plugins for WordPress, approximately 28% of WordPress websites have disabled the default XML sitemap feature. 

WordPress comes with the default XML sitemap feature which is enabled during the installation of the website. However, it does not support advanced SEO practices.

In this article, we are going to see how we can disable the default WordPress XML sitemap easily.

What is an XML sitemap?

An XML sitemap helps the search engine easily read your website content and structure. It does this so that the search engine can easily rank your website on the search engine result page.

It gives the content of the website in the machine readability form so that the search engine bot easily indexes the content of your website. It represents all the content of the website in XML format so that the search engine can easily discover your content.

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How to create an XML sitemap in WordPress?

In WordPress, several methods exist to create the XML sitemap for your website. In this article, we will show two popular methods for creating the XML sitemap for your website.

Creating an XML sitemap without using any plugin:

Generally, WordPress comes up with the default XML sitemap. But this XML sitemap is very limited in its features and functionality.

Now, WordPress has their own XML sitemap which makes all websites benefit from this feature. But the default XML sitemap of WordPress is very limited and gives very few features as compared to the custom one.

For showing the default XML sitemap of your WordPress website just type the wp-sitemap.xml at the end of your domain and an XML sitemap will appear on your screen, like this one:

This is the default XML sitemap of the WordPress website, but it is not flexible and rich in features.

Let us see how we can create the custom XML sitemap using the SEO plugin.

Creating an XML sitemap using the Yoast SEO plugin and disabling the default XML sitemap

To create the XML sitemap using the Yoast SEO plugin, you first have to install the Yoast SEO plugin to your WordPress website. Yoast SEO is the best SEO plugin in the market and is very popular for its features and ease of use.

For setting the site map in the Yoast SEO plugin follow these simple steps.

Step 1: After the successful installation of the Yoast SEO plugin, It will start appearing on the WordPress dashboard.

Step 2: Now click on the Yoast SEO plugin in the WordPress dashboard.

After clicking on the Yoast SEO in the WordPress dashboard the Yoast SEO dashboard will appear on your screen. It will look something like this:

Step 3: Now click on the “Features” tab for the XML sitemap.

Step 4: Scroll down you will get the “XML sitemap” in the feature tab of the Yoast SEO plugin. Turn it to “On” for enabling the XML sitemap on your WordPress website.

Now an XML sitemap is getting enabled on your WordPress website.

Step 5: For accessing the sitemap of your WordPress website, type the domain name of your website and then type “sitemap_index.xml“ just after the URL of your domain name. The Yoast SEO, an XML sitemap will appear on your screen.

For example: “https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap_index.xml”

This is how you can create and enable an XML sitemap on your WordPress website using the Yoast SEO plugin.

After enabling an XML sitemap using the Yoast SEO plugin it will disable the default sitemap on your WordPress website. To check whether the default sitemap is disabled on your WordPress website, type the domain name and then type “sitemap.xml“. 

For example: “https://yourwebsite/sitemap.xml”

If the default sitemap is enabled, it will show you the default sitemap on your WordPress website and if it gets disabled on your WordPress website, then it will show the 404 page on your screen.

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Conclusion

WordPress comes equipped with a default XML sitemap feature, but it may not fulfil the advanced SEO requirements that many website owners want. To optimise your website’s search engine visibility and control, disabling the default WordPress XML sitemap and creating a custom one can be helpful. In this article, we explored how to disable the default WordPress XML sitemap and create a custom XML sitemap using the Yoast SEO plugin. By following these steps, you can customise your sitemap to better suit your website’s needs and improve its search engine performance.

Disable the Default WordPress Sitemap – FAQs

What is an XML sitemap and why is it important for a website?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the URLs of a website and provides metadata about each page. It helps search engines crawl and index a website more efficiently, improving its visibility and rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs).

How can I create an XML sitemap for my WordPress website without using a plugin?

While WordPress comes with a default XML sitemap, it may be limited in its features. To create a custom XML sitemap, you can use plugins like Yoast SEO, which offer advanced sitemap generation and customization options.

Why should I disable the default WordPress XML sitemap?

Disabling the default WordPress XML sitemap allows you to have more control over your website’s sitemap structure and content. Customising your sitemap using plugins like Yoast SEO can help optimise your website’s SEO performance and ensure better indexing by search engines.

What are the benefits of using the Yoast SEO plugin for creating an XML sitemap?

The Yoast SEO plugin is widely recognized for its exciting features and ease of use. It offers a lot of sitemap generation capabilities, allowing you to customise your sitemap settings and optimise it for search engines. Additionally, Yoast SEO provides valuable SEO insights and recommendations to improve your website’s overall performance.

How can I verify if the default WordPress XML sitemap has been successfully disabled?

After enabling the XML sitemap feature in the Yoast SEO plugin, you can verify if the default WordPress XML sitemap has been disabled by typing your website’s domain name followed by “/sitemap.xml” in the browser’s address bar. If the default sitemap has been disabled, you should see a 404 error page instead of the default sitemap.