Module Two

Building and Submitting

Twelve lessons on the practical work of sitemaps. Finding what you have, building what you need, hosting it properly, submitting it everywhere it matters, and maintaining it as the site evolves.

The Curriculum

Twelve Lessons

Designed to be read in order, with each one building on the last. The work moves from finding your sitemap through to maintaining it long-term.

12 lessons
Module 02 01 Sitemap Series

Finding Your Existing Sitemap

The four ways to locate your sitemap on any site, even when you do not know if one exists yet.

8 min read Read article →
Module 02 02 Sitemap Series

What's Inside Your Sitemap

How to audit your sitemap properly. What should be there, what should not, and the signals that tell you the file is out of date.

8 min read Read article →
Module 02 03 Sitemap Series

Choosing How to Build a Sitemap

Four ways to build a sitemap, three questions that decide which one is right for you, and how to choose without overthinking it.

9 min read Read article →
Module 02 04 Sitemap Series

Building with WordPress Plugins

The three SEO plugins that handle sitemap generation properly. Yoast, Rank Math, and All in One SEO, with the settings that matter.

11 min read Read article →
Module 02 05 Sitemap Series

Building Manually with XML

Writing a sitemap by hand. The structure, the rules, the encoding details, and when the manual path is actually the right call.

11 min read Read article →
Module 02 06 Sitemap Series

Where Your Sitemap Should Live

The standard location, the robots.txt declaration, the HTTPS rules, and the hosting platform quirks that catch people out.

10 min read Read article →
Module 02 07 Sitemap Series

Submitting to Google Search Console

How to verify your property, submit the sitemap, read the report that comes back, and fix the common submission errors.

10 min read Read article →
Module 02 08 Sitemap Series

Submitting to Bing Webmaster Tools

The Google Search Console import shortcut, plus why Bing matters more than its market share suggests in the AI Search era.

11 min read Read article →
Module 02 09 Sitemap Series

Using IndexNow

The push protocol that notifies search engines about URL changes within minutes instead of days. Setup paths for any stack.

11 min read Read article →
Module 02 10 Sitemap Series

Validating Your Sitemap

How to confirm your sitemap actually works before you rely on it. XML structure checks, URL checks, and a pre-submission checklist.

11 min read Read article →
Module 02 11 Sitemap Series

Fixing Common Sitemap Errors

Eight sitemap errors people hit most often in practice, each with the specific cause and the specific fix that resolves it.

12 min read Read article →
Module 02 12 Sitemap Series

Maintaining Your Sitemap

What to check, how often, what to automate, and how to set up early warnings before errors compound over time.

11 min read Read article →
Questions

Frequently Asked

The questions that come up most often from readers working through the implementation lessons.

Do I need to complete Module One first?
Recommended, since the lessons here reference Module One concepts throughout. That said, if you already know what a sitemap is and how the protocol works, you can jump straight into Module Two without losing the thread.
How long does Module Two take to complete?
Around two hours of focused reading across all twelve lessons. Most readers spread this across several sessions over a week or two rather than doing it in one sitting.
Which CMSes and frameworks are covered?
WordPress with Yoast, Rank Math, and All in One SEO; manual XML for any stack; and the major static generators including Next.js, Astro, and Eleventy. The principles transfer to most other platforms even when the specific plugin names differ.
Do I need a paid SEO tool to follow along?
No. Most of what is covered uses free tools: Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, IndexNow. Screaming Frog is recommended for the validation and maintenance work, and its free tier handles small sites without subscription.
Is this the right module if my site is already submitted to Search Console?
Yes. Module Two covers what to do after submission too. Reading the reports, validating the file, fixing errors as they appear, and maintaining the sitemap as your site evolves all sit in the second half of the module.
Why is IndexNow included in a sitemap series?
IndexNow is a push protocol that notifies Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam, and several AI Search era crawlers about URL changes within minutes rather than days. It complements the sitemap rather than replacing it, and skipping it leaves a real speed gap in how the engines discover your new and updated URLs.
What if my sitemap has errors I cannot resolve?
Lesson Eleven walks through the eight errors people hit most often with specific fixes for each. If your issue is not covered there, the validation lesson (Lesson Ten) shows you how to identify what the engines are actually seeing on their end.
What is covered in Module Three?
Module Three covers specialised sitemap types: image sitemaps, video sitemaps, news sitemaps, hreflang for international SEO, and the other extensions beyond the standard URL sitemap that matter more in the AI Search era than they used to.
Test Your Knowledge

Module Two Quiz

Twelve lessons of implementation work behind you. The quiz checks your grasp of the practical workflow. Pass it, and download your certificate of completion.

Attempt the quiz →
What's Next

Continue the Series

Module Three takes you beyond the standard URL sitemap into the specialised types that matter more in the AI Search era than they used to.

03
Module Three

Specialised Sitemap Types

Image sitemaps, video sitemaps, news sitemaps, hreflang for international SEO, and the other extensions beyond the standard URL sitemap that matter most in the AI Search era.

Start Module 3 →

Module Two is the implementation playbook. The lessons stay updated as Google, Bing, and the AI Search era crawlers change how sitemaps get processed.