How to Disable the Default WordPress Sitemap?
Last Updated :
16 Apr, 2025
Creating a custom XML sitemap for your WordPress website can greatly improve your SEO performance, especially when the default WordPress sitemap doesn’t meet your specific needs. Here, We will walk you through how to disable the default WordPress XML sitemap and replace it with a custom one using the Yoast SEO plugin. Let’s see how to do the steps and ensure your website is fully optimized for search engines.
What is an XML sitemap?
An XML sitemap is very useful for SEO, providing search engines with a map of your website's structure and content. This helps search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently, improving your website's visibility in search engine results. It’s an XML file that lists all your website’s pages, making it easy for search engine bots to navigate and understand the relationships between your pages.
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Why Disable the Default WordPress Sitemap?
You might want to disable the default WordPress XML sitemap for multiple reasons:
- Advanced SEO Features: Plugins like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO offer more advanced sitemap features, which can help you better control how your website is indexed.
- Customization Needs: You may need more control over which pages are included in your sitemap or how they’re organized.
- Performance Improvements: Some users believe that third-party plugins are better optimized for performance and can reduce server load.
Default XML sitemap of your WordPress:
To view the default XML sitemap of your WordPress website, simply append wp-sitemap.xml to your domain (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/wp-sitemap.xml). However, this default sitemap lacks flexibility and advanced features.
This is the default XML sitemap of the WordPress website, but it is not flexible and rich in features.
Let us see how we can create the custom XML sitemap using the SEO plugin.
Creating a Custom XML Sitemap Using Yoast SEO Plugin
To create the XML sitemap using the Yoast SEO plugin, you first have to install the Yoast SEO plugin to your WordPress website. Yoast SEO is the best SEO plugin in the market and is very popular for its features and ease of use.
For setting the site map in the Yoast SEO plugin follow these simple steps.
Step 1: Install Yoast SEO
First, install the Yoast SEO plugin on your WordPress website if you haven’t already.
- Go to the WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to “SEO” → “General.”
Step 3: Click on the “Features” tab.
Step 4: Enable the “XML Sitemaps” feature.
Now an XML sitemap is getting enabled on your WordPress website.
Step 5: For accessing the sitemap of your WordPress website, type the domain name of your website and then type "sitemap_index.xml" just after the URL of your domain name. The Yoast SEO, an XML sitemap will appear on your screen.
For example: "https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap_index.xml"
This is how you can create and enable an XML sitemap on your WordPress website using the Yoast SEO plugin.
After enabling an XML sitemap using the Yoast SEO plugin it will disable the default sitemap on your WordPress website. To check whether the default sitemap is disabled on your WordPress website, type the domain name and then type "sitemap.xml".
For example: "https://yourwebsite/sitemap.xml"
If the default sitemap is enabled, it will show you the default sitemap on your WordPress website and if it gets disabled on your WordPress website, then it will show the 404 page on your screen.
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Conclusion
Disabling the default WordPress sitemap can be a straightforward process with the right methods. Remember, it's crucial to have an alternative sitemap solution in place to ensure search engines can efficiently crawl and index your website. By following these steps and best practices, you can keep your website's SEO on track.
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