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An XML sitemap is the map you hand search engines: every URL you want indexed, with its last-modified date. Yoast builds and maintains one automatically — your whole job is knowing where it is and pointing Google at it once. Shot on Yoast under WordPress 7.0, August 2026.
- Your sitemap:
/sitemap_index.xml— bookmark it. - It's on by default; the toggle is in Yoast SEO → Settings → Site features.
- Submit the URL once in Google Search Console → Sitemaps.
- Noindexed content drops out automatically — the sitemap follows your settings.
Visit yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml. You'll see the index linking to
per-type sitemaps (posts, pages, categories…), each with last-updated
timestamps:
If you get a 404: check the feature toggle (next step), then resave Settings → Permalinks to flush rewrite rules — the classic fix.
Yoast SEO → Settings → Site features lists Yoast's modules, XML sitemaps included — on by default, with a link straight to your sitemap:
In Search Console, pick your
property → Sitemaps → enter sitemap_index.xml → Submit. Status
"Success" appears after Google's first read. That's the entire ongoing
maintenance: none.
The sitemap mirrors your indexing choices. Set a content type to noindex (in Yoast's content-type settings) or a single post to noindex (Yoast sidebar → Advanced) and it leaves the sitemap automatically. Curate by deciding what deserves indexing — never by editing the sitemap itself.
A sitemap gets you found, not ranked. If a page has been indexed for months and doesn't rank, the sitemap isn't the problem — the content or its competition is. That diagnosis is what our SEO training covers.
Keep learning
- WordPress SEO basics
- How to keep Google from indexing your site — the reverse problem
- Improving SEO on your WordPress site
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