Stay organized with collectionsSave and categorize content based on your preferences.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Submitting aSitemapto
Google just became even easier. No longer do you have to specify the Sitemap file type—we'll
determine the type of data you're submitting automatically. Let's take a quick look at the kinds
of Sitemap files we support as well as the ways they can be submitted to us.
Sitemap file formats supported by Google
Part of what makes the web so interesting is that there are so many different kinds of content out
there. Do you use videos on your website? If so, send us a Video Sitemap file so that we can send
you visitors to those videos! Do you host source-code samples? Submit a Code Search Sitemap! Here
are the various kinds of Sitemap files that Google supports at the moment:
XML Sitemap files for web pages—Use these files to submit all of your web pages (this is the preferred format for web
pages). While not all search engines may support the Sitemap types listed below, the XML Sitemap
for web pages is supported by all search engines ofsitemaps.org.
RSS 2.0andAtom 1.0feeds for web pages—Many blogs create these automatically.
Text files with web page URLs—If you can't automatically create one of the above formats, you can create a text file
with your URLs in it.
XML Sitemap files for mobile web pages—Using this kind of format allows us to recognize content that has been optimized for
mobile devices (please note that there was recently a small change in the format).
If you have multiple Sitemap files that you wish to submit to Google, you can include up to 1,000
of these in anXML Sitemap Index file. If you
have more than 1,000 Sitemap files, you can just submit multiple Sitemap Index files—we'd
love to take them all!
Submitting your Sitemap files to Google
Once you have your Sitemap files ready and available on your server, all that's left is making
sure that the search engines can find them. Google supports three simple ways to submit Sitemap
files:
UsingGoogle Webmaster Tools—Submitting your Sitemap files through Google Webmaster Tools is the preferred way of
letting us know about them. The main advantage of doing it this way is that you'll always have
direct feedback about how your Sitemap files were downloaded (were we able to reach your
server?), how they were recognized (were they in the right format?) and what happened to the
web pages listed in them (how many were indexed?). To submit your Sitemap files, make sure
that your website isverified in Webmaster Tools,
then go to "Sitemaps" in Webmaster Tools and enter the file name of your Sitemap(s).
Sometimes it makes sense to keep your Sitemap file on a different server / domain name. To
submit Sitemap files like that, you mustverify ownershipof both sites in Webmaster Tools and submit the Sitemap on the appropriate site. For instance,
if your Sitemap file forhttps://www.example.comis kept onhttps://sitemap-files.example.com/then you need to verify ownership of both
sites and then submit the Sitemap file underhttps://sitemap-files.example.com(even though the URLs listed in it are forhttps://www.example.com). For more
information, please see our Help Center topic onsubmitting Sitemap files for multiple sites.
Listing Sitemap files in the robots.txt file—Another way of submitting a Sitemap file is
tospecify the URL in your robots.txt file.
If you use this method of submitting a Sitemap file, it will be found by all search engines
that support the Sitemaps protocol (although not all of them support the extensions listed
above). Since you can specify the full URL of your Sitemap file in the robots.txt file, this
method also allows you to store your Sitemap file on a different domain. Keep in mind that while
Sitemap files submitted this way are processed on our side, they will not be automatically
listed in your Webmaster Tools account. In order to receive feedback on your files, we recommend
adding them manually to your account as well.
Using anHTTP "ping"—If your Sitemap files are generated automatically, a convenient way to submit (and
re-submit) them is to access the "ping" URL for Google Sitemaps. This URL includes the URL of
your Sitemap file. For more information on the "ping" URL for your website, please see theHelp Center article on Updating a Sitemap.
You can "ping" this URL whenever you update your Sitemap file—we'll know to pick it up
and process it again. If you also have your Sitemap file registered in Webmaster Tools, we'll
update the status there as well. This method is also valid if your Sitemap file is kept on a
different server, but you must still verify both sites in Webmaster Tools as previously
mentioned.
Search engines that are a members ofsitemaps.orgsupport a similar way of submitting general web Sitemap files.
We hope these simplifications make it even easier for you to send us your Sitemap files!
Posted byJohn Mueller,
Webmaster Trends Analyst, Google Zürich
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle now automatically determines the Sitemap file type, simplifying submission.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle supports various Sitemap formats for different content types like web pages, videos, code, and news.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSitemap files can be submitted via Google Webmaster Tools, robots.txt, or an HTTP ping.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsing Google Webmaster Tools is the preferred method for submission, offering feedback on Sitemap processing.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSubmitting Sitemap files helps Google discover and index website content more efficiently.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google supports various Sitemap file formats, including XML, RSS/Atom feeds, and text files for web pages, videos, code, mobile pages, geo-data, and news. To submit Sitemaps, use Google Webmaster Tools for feedback, list them in the robots.txt file for broader search engine reach, or use an HTTP \"ping\" for automatic updates. Multiple Sitemaps can be combined into a Sitemap Index file. These methods allow submission of files even if they're hosted on a different domain.\n"],null,["# Sitemap Submission Made Simple\n\nThursday, December 18, 2008\n\n\nSubmitting a [Sitemap](https://www.sitemaps.org/index.html) to\nGoogle just became even easier. No longer do you have to specify the Sitemap file type---we'll\ndetermine the type of data you're submitting automatically. Let's take a quick look at the kinds\nof Sitemap files we support as well as the ways they can be submitted to us.\n\nSitemap file formats supported by Google\n----------------------------------------\n\n\nPart of what makes the web so interesting is that there are so many different kinds of content out\nthere. Do you use videos on your website? If so, send us a Video Sitemap file so that we can send\nyou visitors to those videos! Do you host source-code samples? Submit a Code Search Sitemap! Here\nare the various kinds of Sitemap files that Google supports at the moment:\n\n- [XML Sitemap files for web pages](https://www.sitemaps.org/index.html) ---Use these files to submit all of your web pages (this is the preferred format for web pages). While not all search engines may support the Sitemap types listed below, the XML Sitemap for web pages is supported by all search engines of [sitemaps.org](https://www.sitemaps.org/index.html).\n- [RSS 2.0](https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss) and [Atom 1.0](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4287.txt) feeds for web pages---Many blogs create these automatically.\n- [Text files with web page URLs](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap#2) ---If you can't automatically create one of the above formats, you can create a text file with your URLs in it.\n- [XML Sitemap files for Video Search](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/video-sitemaps) ---Videos on your website can be indexed and made available for [Google Video](https://video.google.com/) Search.\n- [Media-RSS feeds](https://search.yahoo.com/mrss) for Video Search---mRSS feeds are used by various other systems, we can use these for [Google Video](https://video.google.com/) Search as well.\n- [XML Sitemap files for Google Code Search](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=75224) ---If you make programming samples or code available to your users, you can submit these for [Google Code Search](https://www.google.com/codesearch).\n- [XML Sitemap files for mobile web pages](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34648) ---Using this kind of format allows us to recognize content that has been optimized for mobile devices (please note that there was recently a small change in the format).\n- [XML Sitemap files for geo-data](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=94554) ---If you have geographic data on your website in the form of [KML](https://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/) or [GeoRSS](https://georss.org/) files, please let us know about these files.\n- [XML Sitemap files for News](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/news-sitemap)---News websites can submit their news content in this special Sitemap format (please note that you must first [register with Google News](https://www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/answer.py?answer=40787) before these files are processed).\n\n\nIf you have multiple Sitemap files that you wish to submit to Google, you can include up to 1,000\nof these in an\n[XML Sitemap Index file](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/large-sitemaps). If you\nhave more than 1,000 Sitemap files, you can just submit multiple Sitemap Index files---we'd\nlove to take them all!\n\nSubmitting your Sitemap files to Google\n---------------------------------------\n\n\nOnce you have your Sitemap files ready and available on your server, all that's left is making\nsure that the search engines can find them. Google supports three simple ways to submit Sitemap\nfiles:\n\n-\n Using\n [Google Webmaster Tools](https://search.google.com/search-console)\n ---Submitting your Sitemap files through Google Webmaster Tools is the preferred way of\n letting us know about them. The main advantage of doing it this way is that you'll always have\n direct feedback about how your Sitemap files were downloaded (were we able to reach your\n server?), how they were recognized (were they in the right format?) and what happened to the\n web pages listed in them (how many were indexed?). To submit your Sitemap files, make sure\n that your website is\n [verified in Webmaster Tools](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34592),\n then go to \"Sitemaps\" in Webmaster Tools and enter the file name of your Sitemap(s).\n\n\n Sometimes it makes sense to keep your Sitemap file on a different server / domain name. To\n submit Sitemap files like that, you must\n [verify ownership](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34592)\n of both sites in Webmaster Tools and submit the Sitemap on the appropriate site. For instance,\n if your Sitemap file for `https://www.example.com` is kept on\n `https://sitemap-files.example.com/` then you need to verify ownership of both\n sites and then submit the Sitemap file under `https://sitemap-files.example.com`\n (even though the URLs listed in it are for `https://www.example.com`). For more\n information, please see our Help Center topic on\n [submitting Sitemap files for multiple sites](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/large-sitemaps).\n- Listing Sitemap files in the robots.txt file---Another way of submitting a Sitemap file is to [specify the URL in your robots.txt file](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview). If you use this method of submitting a Sitemap file, it will be found by all search engines that support the Sitemaps protocol (although not all of them support the extensions listed above). Since you can specify the full URL of your Sitemap file in the robots.txt file, this method also allows you to store your Sitemap file on a different domain. Keep in mind that while Sitemap files submitted this way are processed on our side, they will not be automatically listed in your Webmaster Tools account. In order to receive feedback on your files, we recommend adding them manually to your account as well.\n-\n Using an\n [HTTP \"ping\"](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34609)\n ---If your Sitemap files are generated automatically, a convenient way to submit (and\n re-submit) them is to access the \"ping\" URL for Google Sitemaps. This URL includes the URL of\n your Sitemap file. For more information on the \"ping\" URL for your website, please see the\n [Help Center article on Updating a Sitemap](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34609).\n You can \"ping\" this URL whenever you update your Sitemap file---we'll know to pick it up\n and process it again. If you also have your Sitemap file registered in Webmaster Tools, we'll\n update the status there as well. This method is also valid if your Sitemap file is kept on a\n different server, but you must still verify both sites in Webmaster Tools as previously\n mentioned.\n\n\n Search engines that are a members of\n [sitemaps.org](https://www.sitemaps.org/index.html)\n support a similar way of submitting general web Sitemap files.\n\nWe hope these simplifications make it even easier for you to send us your Sitemap files!\n\n\nPosted by\n[John Mueller](https://twitter.com/JohnMu),\nWebmaster Trends Analyst, Google Zürich"]]
