How to Add an XML Sitemap to your Blogger Blog

Learn how to generate XML sitemaps for your blogger and blogspot blogs. The sitemaps will help Google web crawlers better index your site.

An XML Sitemap serves as a roadmap, mapping out the entire terrain of pages that exist on your website or blog. It acts as a beacon for search engines like Google and Bing, guiding their crawler bots to uncover pages that might have gone unnoticed during routine scans. 

By utilizing these sitemap files, search engines can ensure that every nook and cranny of your site is explored and indexed.

The Problem with Blogger Sitemap Files 

An exhaustive XML Sitemap should include every single page of your site, but this may not be the reality if your blog is housed on the Blogger or blogspot platform. Google recognizes sitemaps in various formats, including XML, RSS, and Atom, and they advise using a combination of XML sitemaps and RSS/Atom feeds to maximize crawling efficiency. 

The standard atom RSS feed of a Blogger blog only contains the most recent blog posts, and this can be a hindrance to your site's indexing efforts. As a result, some of your older pages that don't appear in the default XML Sitemap file may go unnoticed by search engines. However, there's a simple workaround to this challenge. 

Generate XML Sitemap for your Blogger Blog

Whether you have a regular Blogger blog with a blogspot.com address or a self-hosted Blogger blog with a custom domain like snuckcrunch.com, this section applies to you.

To allow search engines to fully grasp the structure of your blog, follow these steps to create an XML sitemap:

• Access the Sitemap Generator and enter the full URL of your Blogger blog.

• Hit the "Generate Sitemap" button, and the tool will instantly produce the XML file containing your sitemap. Copy the entire text.

• Go to your Blogger.com dashboard, select Settings, then Search Preferences. 

• Enable the Custom robots.txt option in the "Crawling and Indexing" section, paste your XML sitemap into the field, and save your changes.

And that's it! Search engines will effortlessly locate your XML sitemap files through the robots.txt file, eliminating the need for manual pinging.

The XML sitemap generator internally tracks all the blog posts available on your Blogger blog, dividing them into batches of 500 posts each, and generates individual XML feeds for each batch. This ensures that every single post on your blog will be discoverable by search engines.

Note: Even if you have transitioned from Blogger to WordPress, submitting XML sitemaps of your former Blogspot blog can still be beneficial. This will help search engines uncover your new WordPress blog posts and pages.