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    4. XML sitemap generator only crawling 20% of my site

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    XML sitemap generator only crawling 20% of my site

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO
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    • TyEl
      TyEl last edited by

      Hi guys,

      I am trying to submit the most recent XML sitemap but the sitemap generator tools are only crawling about 20% of my site.  The site carries around 150 pages and only 37 show up on tools like xml-sitemaps.com. My goal is to get all the important URLs we care about into the XML sitemap.

      How should I go about this?

      Thanks

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • seotools25
        seotools25 last edited by

        I believe it's not a significant issue if the sitemap encompasses the core framework of your website. As long as the sitemap is well-organized, omitting a few internal pages is acceptable since Googlebot will crawl all pages based on the sitemap. Take a look at the <a href="https://convowear.in">example page</a> that also excludes some pages, yet it doesn't impact the site crawler's functionality.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • ChunkyChuck
          ChunkyChuck last edited by

          Yes Yoast on WordPress works fine for sitemap generation. I would also recommend that. Using on all of my blog sites.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • noahjohn7788
            noahjohn7788 last edited by

            If you are using WordPress then I would recommend to use Yoast plugin. It generates sitemap automatically regularly. I am also using it on my blog.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • ndsjiu7823
              ndsjiu7823 Banned last edited by

              I'm using Yoast SEO plugin for my website. It generates the Sitemap automatically.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Smantha
                Smantha last edited by

                My new waterproof tent reviews blog facing the crawling problem. How can I fix that?

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • asdasdfasf
                  asdasdfasf last edited by

                  use Yoast or rankmath ot fix it

                  آموزش سئو در اصفهان https://faneseo.com/seo-training-in-isfahan/

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Nozzle
                    Nozzle @TyEl last edited by

                    Patrick wrote a list of reasons why Screaming Frog might not be crawling certain pages here: https://moz.com/community/q/screamingfrog-won-t-crawl-my-site#reply_300029.

                    Hopefully that list can help you figure out your site's specific issue.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • TyEl
                      TyEl last edited by

                      This doesn't really answer my question of why I am not able to get all links into the XML sitemap when using xml sitemap generators.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Graduationmall
                        Graduationmall last edited by

                        I think it's not a big deal if the sitemap covers the main structure of your site. If your sitemap is constructed in a really decent structure, then missing some internal pages are acceptable because Googlebot will crawl all of your pages based on your site map. You can see the following page which also doesn't cover all of its pages, but there's no influence in terms of site crawler.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • TyEl
                          TyEl last edited by

                          Thanks Boyd but unfortunately I am still missing a good chunk of URLs here and I am wondering why? Do those check on internal links in order to find these pages?

                          Nozzle 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • Nozzle
                            Nozzle last edited by

                            Use Screaming Frog to crawl your site. It is free to download the software and you can use the free version to crawl up to 500 URLs.

                            After it crawls your site you can click on the Sitemaps tab and generate an XML sitemap file to use.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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