How to Submit a Sitemap in Google Search Console

Introduction to Sitemaps and Google Search Console

When you launch a new website or add new pages to an existing blog, you want Google to find them as quickly as possible. This is where an XML sitemap comes into play. A sitemap is a simple file on your website that lists all your important pages, posts, and media files. It acts like a roadmap for Google's crawlers, showing them exactly where to go and what to index Search Console Sitemaps Report.

By learning how to submit sitemap Google Search Console, you tell Google directly about your content instead of waiting for its crawlers to find your site naturally. This simple step can speed up the discovery process significantly. Let us do this step by step so you can get your website crawled and indexed without any confusion.

Prerequisites Before You Start

Before we submit your sitemap, we must make sure you have everything ready. If these prerequisites are not met, you will face errors during the submission process.

• A Verified Google Search Console Property: You must already have added and verified your website in Google Search Console.
• Owner Permissions: You must have owner permissions on the Search Console property to submit a sitemap using the Sitemaps report . If you do not have owner permissions, you cannot submit it here, but you can still list your sitemap in your robots.txt file .
• An Active Website: Your website must be live and accessible to the public. If your site is under maintenance or blocked by a password, Googlebot will not be able to read your sitemap .

Step 1: Find Your Correct Sitemap URL

The first step is to find your sitemap URL. Many modern website builders and content management systems (CMS) create this file automatically. Let us look at how to find your sitemap URL based on the platform you use.

WordPress Websites

If you are using WordPress, you are likely using an SEO plugin. These plugins generate your sitemap automatically:

• Yoast SEO: Your sitemap is usually located at yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml.
• Rank Math: Your sitemap is also located at yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml.
• All in One SEO (AIOSEO): The default URL is typically yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.

You can verify this by logging into your WordPress dashboard, navigating to your SEO plugin's settings, and looking for the "Sitemap" section.

Shopify Websites

Shopify automatically generates and updates your sitemap for you. You do not need to install any extra apps. Your sitemap URL on Shopify is always: yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.

Blogger Websites

Blogger also creates a sitemap automatically. If you are running a blog on Blogger, you can read our detailed guide on How to Submit A Sitemap On Blogger to understand how Blogger handles sitemaps and custom redirects.

Custom Websites

If you built your website from scratch using HTML, CSS, or PHP, you might need to create a sitemap manually. You can use a free online XML sitemap generator to crawl your site and create a sitemap file. Once generated, you must upload this file (usually named sitemap.xml) to the root directory of your website using an FTP client or your hosting control panel.

Step 2: Check Your Sitemap Before Submission

Do not submit your sitemap blindly. If there is an error in your sitemap file, Google will not be able to read it, and you will waste time. Let us check the sitemap first.

First, open a new tab in your web browser and type your sitemap URL (for example, https://example.com/sitemap.xml). If your sitemap is working, you should see a clean XML page listing your website's URLs. If you see a 404 error page, your sitemap does not exist or is not active yet.

Second, you should test if Googlebot can access the file. You can do this by running a live URL inspection in Google Search Console . Type your sitemap URL into the inspection search bar at the top of the screen and run a live test URL Inspection Tool. If the "Page fetch" status is "Successful", Googlebot can read your sitemap without any issues .

Step 3: Submit Your Sitemap in Google Search Console

Now that you have your sitemap URL and have verified that it works, let us submit it to Google. Follow these exact steps:

1. Log in to your Google Search Console dashboard.
2. In the top-left corner, select the correct website property from the dropdown menu.
3. Look at the left-hand menu. Under the Indexing section, click on Sitemaps. This will open the Google Search Console sitemaps report .
4. You will see a section labeled Add a new sitemap.
5. In the input box, you will see your domain name already written (for example, https://example.com/). You only need to enter the relative path of your sitemap. For example, if your sitemap is at https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml, type sitemap_index.xml in the box.
6. Click the Submit button .

After you click submit, you will see a confirmation message saying "Sitemap submitted successfully". Google will now attempt to fetch and process your sitemap file .

Step 4: Read Success and Error States

Once submitted, your sitemap will appear in the table below the submission box. You must check the "Status" column to see if Google processed it correctly. Let us look at what these statuses mean:

Sitemap Status	What It Means	Action Required
Success	Google successfully fetched and parsed your sitemap without any issues.	None. Google will periodically recrawl this sitemap .
Has errors	Google found the sitemap, but there are syntax errors, broken URLs, or invalid tags inside .	Click on the sitemap row in the table to see the specific sitemap status error details and fix them .
Couldn't fetch	Google could not access the sitemap file. It might be blocked by robots.txt or require a login .	Check your robots.txt file, ensure the URL is correct, and verify that your server is not blocking Googlebot.

Step 5: Verify Discovery and Indexing

A very common point of confusion for new bloggers is thinking that submitting a sitemap means their pages will be indexed immediately. This is not how Google works. A sitemap only helps Google discover your URLs . Whether Google decides to index those URLs depends on the quality of your content.

To verify if Google has discovered your pages through the sitemap, click on the submitted sitemap in the Sitemaps report table. You will see the number of discovered URLs. This number tells you how many links Google found inside your sitemap file.

To check if a specific page is indexed, use the URL Inspection tool . Paste the page URL into the search bar at the top of Search Console. If it says "URL is on Google", your page is indexed . If it is not indexed, the tool will tell you the exact reason why Google chose not to index it .

Once your pages are indexed, you can monitor how they perform using the Performance reports How Are You Performing on Google?. These reports show your total impressions, clicks, and average click-through rate (CTR) in search results .

Common Mistakes to Avoid

To ensure your sitemap works perfectly, avoid these common mistakes:

• Submitting the Full URL: In the "Add a new sitemap" box, do not paste your entire URL like https://example.com/sitemap.xml. Only paste the relative part (e.g., sitemap.xml).
• Blocking the Sitemap in Robots.txt: Make sure your robots.txt file does not contain a line like Disallow: /sitemap.xml. If you block Googlebot, Google cannot read your sitemap.
• Including Noindex Pages: Your sitemap should only contain pages that you want search engines to index. If you have pages with a "noindex" tag, remove them from your sitemap.
• Low-Quality Content: If your website contains thin or copied content, Google may discover your pages via the sitemap but refuse to index them. High-quality content is essential for indexing. If your site has quality issues, it can lead to indexing failures, which is also a major reason Why Google AdSense rejected your application.

How to Verify Your Result

Let us perform a quick verification check to make sure everything is set up correctly:

1. Go to the Sitemaps report in Google Search Console .
2. Look at the "Submitted" date and the "Last read" date. If the "Last read" date is recent, it means Google is actively checking your sitemap.
3. Check the "Discovered URLs" column. If you have published 10 articles and the sitemap shows 10 discovered URLs, your sitemap is working perfectly.

Limitations and Rollback Advice

If you accidentally submit the wrong sitemap URL, do not panic. You can easily delete it. To delete a sitemap, click on the sitemap in the Sitemaps report table, click the three dots (more options) icon in the top-right corner, and select "Remove sitemap" . Note that removing a sitemap from the report does not make Google forget the URLs it already crawled; if you want Google to stop visiting those URLs, you must use a robots.txt rule or a noindex tag .

Next Steps for Your Website

Now that your sitemap is successfully submitted, Google knows where to find your content. Your next focus should be on creating high-quality articles that people are actively searching for. To help you with this, read our guide on How to Find Low-Competition Keywords for a New Blog to target keywords that can rank quickly without heavy competition. Keep monitoring your Search Console dashboard weekly to track your indexing progress and search performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take for Google to index pages after submitting a sitemap?

Submitting a sitemap helps Google discover your URLs, but indexing is not immediate. It can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for Google to crawl and index your pages. The exact time depends on your site's authority, content quality, and server speed.

Why does my sitemap say 'Couldn't fetch' in Google Search Console?

The 'Couldn't fetch' error usually means Googlebot was blocked from accessing your sitemap file. This can happen if your sitemap URL is incorrect, your website's server is down, or your robots.txt file is blocking Googlebot from reading the sitemap path.

Do I need to submit a new sitemap every time I publish a new post?

No, you do not need to resubmit your sitemap manually. Most modern SEO plugins and platforms like WordPress and Shopify update your sitemap automatically when you publish new content. Google will periodically recrawl your existing sitemap to find those updates.