PROTIP: Check your sitemap submission
If your site has more than 10,000 articles, you need to make sure Google Search Console (and any other SEO tools) is linked to your full sitemap index — not just the smaller sitemap.
- sitemap.xml only contains up to 10,000 of your most recent articles. Older content will be missing from search engine crawling.
- sitemapindex.xml is the master file that links to all sub-sitemaps and includes every article on your site.
Here is how to apply the change:
- Log into Google Search Console.
- Open your site property.
- Go to Sitemaps in the menu.
- If you see sitemap.xml submitted, remove it.
- In the Add a new sitemap field, enter the full index link, for example:
- https://www.yoursite.com/sitemapindex.xml
- Click Submit and confirm it’s processed successfully.
The 5-Step Solution to Full Indexing
Follow this simple process in Google Search Console to ensure your entire site is visible.
1️⃣
Log In
Access your site property in Google Search Console.
⬇️
2️⃣
Remove Old
Navigate to 'Sitemaps' and remove the old `sitemap.xml`.
⬇️
3️⃣
Add New
Enter your full sitemap index URL.
⬇️
4️⃣
Submit
Click the submit button to process the new index file.
⬇️
✅
Confirm
Wait for the 'Success' status to confirm it's been processed.
This ensures search engines can see and index your entire archive, not just the most recent 10,000 articles.
