WordPress doesn't generate XML sitemaps natively in older versions, so you need a plugin. Install Yoast SEO, Rank Math, or All in One SEO from the plugin repository. Once activated, navigate to the SEO settings panel and enable the XML sitemap feature—it's usually toggled on by default. The plugin will create a sitemap index at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml and automatically update it whenever you publish, edit, or delete content. Most plugins split your sitemap into sub-sitemaps by content type: one for posts, one for pages, one for categories, and so on. This keeps individual files under the 50,000 URL limit Google recommends. You can exclude specific post types, taxonomies, or individual pages from the sitemap through the plugin's settings if you don't want them indexed. After enabling the sitemap, submit the URL to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Go to the Sitemaps section in each tool, paste in yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml, and submit. Check back in a few days to confirm it's been processed without errors. If you see errors, they're usually related to redirect chains, 404s, or pages blocked by robots.txt—fix those issues rather than removing the URLs from the sitemap. At Ottawa SEO, we typically use Rank Math or Yoast depending on the client's existing stack. We always verify the sitemap loads correctly in a browser, check that it references the sitemap index rather than individual post URLs, and confirm no orphaned or noindexed pages are included. For large sites with 10,000+ pages, we sometimes exclude low-value taxonomies like tags to keep the sitemap cleaner. Don't overthink it: a basic, automatically maintained sitemap is better than a manually managed one you forget to update. WordPress 5.5+ includes a basic sitemap generator at yourdomain.com/wp-sitemap.xml, but plugin-based solutions offer more control and are still the standard for serious SEO work.