How to Setup Google Sitemap in OpenCart 3.x

Video transcript:

Hi there, welcome to our new video tutorial. Time to learn about the Google Sitemap and how to set it up in your new OpenCart 3 installation.

A Sitemap is an organized list of all the web pages in your store, which makes it easier for search engines like Google to scan them. This allows Google to find and index of all the content in your site faster and easier.

In OpenCart, it’s very easy to setup your Sitemap using the Extension system.

Let’s see how.

The first step is to go to your OpenCart admin and go to Extensions and then Extensions again.

Click the dropdown and select Feeds.

You will see the Google Sitemap extension. Hit the install button and then click Edit.

The first field is to just enable and disable the status of the sitemap. The second field is to enter the data feed URL.

Where to get this URL?

Go to Google Webmaster Tools. There will be a link in the description.

Click the Add a Property button and enter your store’s domain.

You will be asked to verify your ownership of the site.

You have a few ways to do this. We will use the recommended method, which is to upload an HTML verification document to our site.

To upload this document, we will use FileZilla. Access your OpenCart root directory and upload the file there.

Now, open the confirmation link and then verify your entry.

If everything is okay, go to the Crawl menu in your dashboard and click on Sitemaps.

There you’ll see the test/add sitemap button. You will need to enter the last part of your Data Feed URL excluding your site’s main domain.

Hit the Submit button and your sitemap should now be ready and active.

Well, that’s all. Your site will now be easier for Google to digest and your pages will be indexed much faster.

An important note is that this is not an SEO tactic to skyrocket your rankings. This is a basic step you need to do for your site so it gets indexed faster. This does not mean that it will boost your Google positions to any serious degree.

So, that’s all for today. Hit the like button if you found this video useful, subscribe for more OpenCart 3 tutorials and most of all - thanks for watching!

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