How to Create a Sitemap File for Your HTML Website

Sitemap File

In my previous post I went over How to Create a Sitemap File for Your WordPress Site. In this tutorial I will be showing you how to create a sitemap file (ex. sitemap.xml) for your HTML site. Sitemaps are used by Google and Bing as a hierarchy for your website. I highly recommend taking the time to create them and submit them properly to Google, Bing, and Yandex.

Step 1

I used to recommend GSiteCrawler software to manually generate sitemaps for your HTML website. But their website appears to be down and files taken offline. The 2nd best thing is via xml-sitemaps.com. Their free online version supports up to 500 pages.

XML Sitemaps

Step 2

Input your domain name. If you don’t know what frequency you want, choose weekly. Select “Use Server’s Response” is fine for modification and I suggest selecting “Automatically Calculated Priority.” Then click on the “Start” button.

XML Sitemaps Settings

It will take a few minutes to generate your file, depending on the size of your website.

XML Sitemaps Generation

Step 3

Click on the “here” link at the top to download your sitemap file.

XML Sitemaps Download

Step 4

You then need to upload your sitemap.xml file into the root of your website. I suggest using an FTP like FileZilla.

Step 5

Now that you have a sitemap file built and uploaded to your site, don’t forget to submit it to Google and Bing. Also, using this sitemap creation method requires you to manually regenerate your sitemap file on a regular basis, or whenever you have new content.

As always feel free to leave your comments below!

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Brian Jackson

I craft actionable content and develop performance-driven WordPress plugins. Connect on X, subscribe to my newsletter (once a month), or buy me coffee.

4 thoughts on “How to Create a Sitemap File for Your HTML Website”

  1. Hi Brian, thanks for the post! I’m using wordpress.com, so I can’t do the step 4. Is this step mandatory? I mean, if I only create the sitemap and upload it in google webmasters tool I will have some benefit? Thanks.

    Reply

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