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I am in real confusion regarding sitemaps. I know what a sitemap is but the question here is:

  1. First option:
    1. Use a XML Sitemap generator create one
    2. Upload it to my public HTML directory in my GoDaddy hosting
    3. Upload it to Google Search Console
  2. Second option: Use Yoast to do it directly

Now I have tried the first method but I got 404 error when I clicked on sitemaps on my website. Under Yoast, it showed me that sitemap is working.

Can I download the sitemap that Yoast created upload it to public HTML directory?

Update - My Sitemap is changed from websitename/sitemap.xml to websitename/xmlsitemap.xml, how should I change it to correct format to avoid 404 not found error.

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  • You probably don't need a sitemap. They don't help your site rank better and they rarely help your pages get discovered faster. At best they give you some additional stats in Google Search Console. See The Sitemap Paradox – Stephen Ostermiller♦ Oct 21 '18 at 9:51
  • The instructions in XML sitemaps in Yoast are pretty straightforward. Once you create it, there's no need to upload it to GoDaddy hosting, it should already be there and Googlebot will find it. If you want to submit it in Google Search Console, then enter the URL for it as described here. You can find the URL to the sitemap created with Yoast in step 6: 'See the XML sitemap.' – dan♦ Oct 21 '18 at 10:00
  • Regarding your "Update", it doesn't matter see this question: Does name of sitemap file that Wordpress generates matter?. (Please ask different questions as separate question in the future). – dan♦ Oct 21 '18 at 10:12
  • Note, you could also include sitemap in robots.txt . Look at developers.google.com/search/reference/robots_txt#sitemap Its not needed to submit it in search console this way. You can include few sitemaps, even from different hosts – LeonidMew Oct 21 '18 at 10:14