How to Add an HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress

Do you want to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress?

Unlike XML sitemaps that are submitted to the search engines for better crawling, HTML sitemaps present an organized list of your pages and posts for your website visitors.

In this article, we’ll show you how to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress.

What’s the Difference Between XML and HTML Sitemaps?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists your website content in an XML format for search engines like Google and others.

You can submit your XML sitemap in webmaster tools to improve and control how the search engines crawl your website.

On the other hand, an HTML sitemap is geared towards your actual website visitors. HTML sitemap is a simple page that lists all your posts and pages in an organized manner.

Now that you know the difference, let’s take a look at how to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress.

Adding a Simple HTML Sitemap in WordPress

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Simple Sitemap plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Simple Sitemap is a free plugin, and it’s lets you easily add an HTML sitemap to your WordPress website.

Once the plugin is activated, you can simply open an existing page, or create a new HTML sitemap page by navigating to Pages » Add New.

This plugin has newly added Gutenberg blocks that you can use to simply add an HTML sitemap page.

All you need to do is click the ‘Plus’ icon, then select the ‘Simple Sitemap’ option.

Another block included with this plugin is the ‘Simple Sitemap Group’ that creates a branching visual sitemap. But, we’re going to use the ‘Simple Sitemap’ block for this tutorial.

Once you add the block, it will automatically create your HTML sitemap.

On the right-hand menu, you have customization options where you can choose to display ‘Posts’ or ‘Pages’, or both together.

In the box under ‘Select post types to display’, simply enter ‘Post’ or ‘Page’ to choose what you want to display.

After that, you can change how the list displays by changing the ‘Orderby’ or ‘Order’ drop-downs.

You can also display the excerpt for the pages or posts listed, and enable or disable links. However, we’re going to keep the default plugin settings to keep our HTML sitemap simple and easy to browse.

Once you’ve finished customizing your HTML sitemap page, click ‘Publish’ or ‘Save’ if you’re updating an older page.

When your visitors go to your HTML sitemap, they’ll see a navigation page that looks similar to the one below.

Adding an HTML Sitemap in WordPress using Shortcodes

If you’re using the classic editor, then you can still create a HTML sitemap using shortcodes.

Simply create a new page by navigating to Pages » Add New, then give your new page a name.

After that, simply copy and paste one of the following shortcodes in the text editor.

[simple-sitemap-group]
[simple-sitemap]

If you need more help, then see our guide on how to add a shortcode to WordPress.

Once you’ve done that, click ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ to save your changes.

The first shortcode will list your posts by category, and the second shortcode will list your pages.

This is how the plugin will display your sitemap to your website visitors.

Creating an HTML Sitemap in WordPress For Top Pages Only

Many site owners use WordPress as a CMS with their main content published as pages instead of posts. For more details, see the difference between posts and pages in WordPress.

In this case, you would want to your HTML sitemap to show pages in the proper hierarchical order.

Here is how you can add HTML Sitemap with only pages.

Simply add this shortcode to the page where you want to display your HTML sitemap. Follow the same steps above to add the shortcode to a new WordPress page.

[simple-sitemap]

This is how it will display your HTML sitemap with all your WordPress pages listed in a hierarchical list.

It also includes your parent and child pages listed in a nested fashion. For more details, see our guide on how to create a child page in WordPress.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress. You may also want to see our list of the best WordPress SEO plugins and tools that you should use and our proven tips on how to increase your blog traffic.

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