If you’ve built a WooCommerce store and no one can find it, does it even exist? A bit dramatic, sure, but painfully real. Too many store owners pour time, money, and design flair into their site, only to be ghosted by Google.
Spoiler: The problem probably isn’t your products or your theme. It’s that search engines can’t see what you’ve built.
Enter the XML sitemap: Your store’s backstage pass to the search engine spotlight. It’s a neatly curated map that tells crawlers the pages you really want to index. Without one, search engines will still find your content… eventually. But that can take months, especially if your store’s fresh out of the box.
A well-built sitemap speeds things up fast. More visibility. More clicks. More chances to sell that amazing stuff you’re offering.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- What XML sitemaps are, and why WooCommerce stores absolutely need them.
- How to automate sitemap creation with SEOPress (to save time and headaches).
- How to submit your sitemap to Google, step-by-step.
- Proven tactics to boost your product visibility.
Whether you’re launching a store or giving your SEO a long-overdue refresh, this is one of the smartest, highest-ROI steps you can take. Let’s get started.
WooCommerce XML sitemaps: What they are and why they matter
An XML sitemap is a behind-the-scenes blueprint for your online store, one that shows search engines like Google and Bing exactly which pages and files matter most. It also tells them when each page was last updated, how often it changes, and how important it is compared to other content on your site.
While search engines usually find pages by crawling from one link to the next, that process can miss things, especially if your store is new, not well-linked, or has content tucked away in hidden categories.
XML sitemaps give search engines a direct line to your entire product catalog, offering sizeable payoffs:
- Faster indexing: New products show up in search results more quickly.
- Full catalog visibility: No page gets left behind.
- Clear prioritization: Flag which products are most important.
It’s worth noting that XML sitemaps are purely for search engines. If you’re looking to help your customers navigate your site, you’ll want a separate HTML sitemap for that.
Now that you understand why sitemaps matter, let’s look at WordPress’s limitations…
The limitations of basic WordPress sitemaps
Since version 5.5, WordPress has offered built-in XML sitemaps that index your homepage, posts, pages, custom post types, taxonomies, and author archives. It’s a helpful starting point, but for WooCommerce stores, it’s far from enough.
The default WordPress sitemap provides only basic information without the rich metadata that helps search engines crawl more efficiently, meaning your product pages may not be discovered and indexed as effectively as they could be. In short, your sitemap is giving Google a flat list when what you really need is a strategic map of your store.
That means URLs that shouldn’t be indexed (like hidden WooCommerce products, noindex posts, or pages with conflicting canonical tags) can sneak in and quietly hurt your SEO.
A purpose-built SEO plugin like SEOPress gives you full control and eCommerce-specific features, so that your products can rank in search and shopping results – no technical expertise needed, just install and go.
SEOPress makes it far easier to create your sitemap and help crawlers to analyze your site, index your pages, and connect content with what users are searching for.
How to set up your WooCommerce XML sitemap with SEOPress
With the basics covered, here’s how to set up your sitemap. SEOPress gives you everything you need to set up a proper XML sitemap and start gaining visibility for your WooCommerce store.
SEOPress allows you to:
- Include WooCommerce products.
- Taxonomies.
- Fine-tune exactly what gets indexed.
SEOPress makes generating your sitemap easy. Here’s what to do:
1. Install SEOPress
Head to WordPress.org or search for SEOPress in your WordPress dashboard to install and activate the plugin.
2. Open the SEOPress settings
Go to SEOPress → XML – HTML Sitemap in your admin panel.
3. Enable XML sitemaps
Click the enable XML – HTML sitemap toggle and hit save.
4. Choose what content to include
Tell SEOPress what to index:
- Under Post Types, check Products to include WooCommerce items.
- Under Taxonomies, enable Product categories and Product tags.
- You can also include other post types or pages as needed.
5. Fine-tune your settings
SEOPress takes care of SEO best practices for you. It’ll automatically exclude any content marked “noindex,” and remove pages with custom canonicals that don’t match their URL — helping you avoid errors in Google Search Console and reduce wasted crawl budget.
Once it’s set up, your sitemap stays updated as you add new products or publish content – no manual work required. SEOPress even disables WordPress’s default sitemaps to avoid any conflict.
You’ll find your sitemap at: yourstore.com/sitemaps.xml.
And it’ll always reflect the latest content from your store.
Why SEOPress PRO is ideal for WooCommerce
If you’re ready to take your eCommerce SEO to the next level, SEOPress PRO gives your WooCommerce store the edge with advanced tools built specifically for online retailers.
With PRO, you can include videos and images in your XML sitemaps, whether they’re hosted on your site or platforms like YouTube.
In General settings, navigate to the Image Sitemap tab and enable it. This automatically includes:
- WooCommerce product images.
- WooCommerce product galleries.
- Featured images from posts and pages.
This means your prized conversion content can show up in image search results to drive more qualified traffic to your WooCommerce store.
You’ll also get access to Google News sitemaps, which is a major win if your store runs a blog or news section, giving your content faster visibility in Google News.
Selling internationally? SEOPress PRO works perfectly with WPML and Polylang, ensuring your multilingual product and category pages are indexed correctly to avoid messy conflicts across regional sites. Other powerful features designed with WooCommerce in mind include:
- A full suite of site audit tools to surface technical SEO issues, especially on product pages.
- White-labeling, perfect for agencies managing client stores.
- Advanced analytics integration (with Search Console data right in your WordPress dashboard).
For store owners ready to compete at a higher level, in both regional and international markets, SEOPress PRO delivers the professional-grade SEO toolkit you need to grow with confidence.
How to submit your WooCommerce sitemap to Google
SEOPress takes care of generating and updating your XML sitemap automatically. Simply submit your sitemap to Google Search Console to get started.
Here’s how to submit it in a few easy steps:
- Log in to your Google Search Console account.
- Select your WooCommerce site from the property list.
- Click Sitemaps in the left-hand menu.
- Enter: yourstore.com/sitemaps.xml.
- Hit Submit.
Don’t stop with Google – submit your sitemap to these platforms too:
- Bing Webmaster Tools – Log in and follow their sitemap submission steps.
- Yandex Webmaster – Especially useful if you’re serving international audiences.
Taking this extra step helps search engines index your content faster, giving your products the visibility they deserve.
Best practices for implementing a sitemap for WooCommerce products
A solid sitemap strategy can help your WooCommerce store show up more reliably in search results. Here’s how to get it right.
1. Turn on full sitemap coverage
Make sure both product and image sitemaps are enabled in SEOPress. Product sitemaps help search engines find your listings, while image sitemaps improve your visibility in Google Images. This is key for eCommerce, where visuals often drive conversions. Covering both angles ensures your store shows up across more search surfaces.
2. Submit your sitemap manually
Don’t wait around for search engines to find it. Submit your sitemap (e.g., yourstore.com/sitemaps.xml) directly to Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, and Yandex if you’re targeting international users. Taking this step can significantly speed up indexing.
3. Keep an eye on indexing health
Use the sitemap and index reports in Google Search Console to track submitted vs. indexed URLs. If you’re seeing significant discrepancies, it could signal a technical issue that needs fixing.
4. Adjust your settings
A few smart tweaks can improve performance:
- Exclude discontinued products.
- Prioritize key product categories.
- Make sure draft or private items stay out.
- Adjust update frequency to match how often your inventory changes.
5. Troubleshoot when needed
If your sitemap throws errors, start by checking for plugin conflicts, timeouts, or memory issues. SEOPress has solid documentation on resolving WooCommerce-specific problems, which is worth bookmarking.
A well-maintained sitemap ramps up your visibility and keeps your SEO working as your product lineup evolves.
Boost your store’s visibility with WooCommerce XML sitemaps
An XML sitemap is key to your WooCommerce products showing up in search results sooner. It’s how your products get discovered, indexed, and ranked in weeks instead of months.
SEOPress gives you everything you need to start:
- Sitemap generation (including products) according to your preferences.
- Smart exclusion of problematic URLs.
- And smooth updates as your store grows.
And if you’re looking to scale, SEOPress PRO unlocks advanced tools like video sitemaps, Google News support, and multilingual capabilities.
Don’t let poor visibility hold your store back.
Get started with SEOPress PRO today and turn search engines into your most reliable traffic source.
