How to Add Sitemaps to Robots.txt

Plans de site tell Google which pages on your website are the most important and to be indexed. While there are many ways to create a sitemap, adding it to robots.txt is one of the best ways to ensure that it is seen by Google.

In this knowledge base article, we will show you how to add sitemaps to your robots.txt file using Rank Math. We will also explain the benefits of adding a sitemap and how it can help improve your website’s search engine ranking.

Commençons!

1 Benefits of Adding a Sitemap

Adding a sitemap to your website helps Google index your site more quickly. This is because a sitemap tells Google which pages on your website are the most important and which pages need to be indexed.

Another benefit of adding a sitemap is that it can help improve your website’s search engine ranking. This is because sitemaps help Google understand the structure of your website and the relationships between your pages and post types.

2 How to Add a Sitemap to Robots.txt Using Rank Math

Adding a sitemap to your robots.txt  file is a great way to ensure that it is seen by Google. In this section, we will show you how to do this using Rank Math.

2.1 Login to Your WordPress Website

First, you need to log in to your WordPress website and install the Rank Math plugin. For more information on how to do this, please see our knowledge base article on How to Install Rank Math.

2.2 Navigate to Edit Robots.txt

Navigate to your robots.txt file in Rank Math, which is located under WordPress Dashboard → Rank Math SEO → General Settings → Edit robots.txt comme indiqué ci-dessous:

2.3 Add Sitemap URL in Your Robots.txt

By default, Rank Math would automatically add a set of rules (including your Sitemap) to your robots.txt file. But you can always add/edit the code as you prefer from the available text area.

Now, here you need to enter the URL of your sitemap in this box. The URL will be different for each website. For example, if your website is example.com, the sitemap URL would be example.com/sitemap.xml. 

You can also add multiple sitemap URLs if you have more than one sitemap. For example, if you have a video sitemap, you would enter the URL for that sitemap as well.

Here are some of the example reference URLs you can use:

• Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
• Sitemap: https://example.com/post-sitemap.xml
• Sitemap: https://example.com/page-sitemap.xml
• Sitemap: https://example.com/category-sitemap.xml
• Sitemap: https://example.com/video-sitemap.xml

But instead of listing individual URLs, you can simply include the Sitemap Index, and search engines can pull out all the individual sitemaps from here. It’s also helpful — if you end up adding/removing sitemaps, you don’t need to make these changes to your robots.txt manually.

• Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml

Pour plus d'informations, voir la capture d'écran ci-dessous :

If you’re a Rank Math PRO user, you’ll have an advanced robots.txt editor. So, you’ll have to click the EDITOR option to add the sitemap to your robots.txt file. Once you’re done, you can use the Validate Code button to return to the preview.

2.4 Save Your Changes

Once you have added the sitemap URL to your robots.txt file, you need to save your changes. You can do this by clicking the Sauvegarder les modifications bouton en bas de la page.

Mise en garde: Soyez prudent lorsque vous apportez des modifications majeures ou mineures à votre site Web via robots.txt. Bien que ces changements puissent améliorer votre trafic de recherche, ils peuvent également faire plus de mal que de bien si vous ne faites pas attention.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, we have demonstrated how to add sitemaps to your robots.txt file using Rank Math. We have also explained the benefits of adding a sitemap and how it can help improve your website’s search engine ranking. We hope this article has been helpful to you. If you have absolutely any questions, please feel free to contact our support team, who are available 24/7 & ready to help.