Google Sitemap & Robots

Version v1.2.0
Platform Magento 2
Released 2 August 2025

SEO Best Practices for Magento 2

Optimize your Google Sitemap & Robots configuration for better search engine visibility.

Sitemap Best Practices

Do's and Don'ts

Do's:

  • ✅ Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console
  • ✅ Use realistic update frequencies that match actual content changes
  • ✅ Include product images in your sitemap for visual search
  • ✅ Enable noindex exclusion to keep your sitemap clean
  • ✅ Set homepage priority to 1.0
  • ✅ Regenerate sitemap after major catalog changes
  • ✅ Use cron for automatic daily regeneration

Don'ts:

  • ❌ Set all pages to priority 1.0 (defeats the purpose)
  • ❌ Use "always" frequency for static pages
  • ❌ Include noindex pages in your sitemap
  • ❌ Forget to regenerate after URL changes
  • ❌ Exceed 50,000 URLs per sitemap file

Priority Strategy

Assign priorities based on page importance:

Page Type Recommended Priority Rationale
Homepage 1.0 Most important entry point
Top categories 0.8 - 0.9 Primary navigation
Subcategories 0.6 - 0.7 Secondary navigation
Products 0.5 - 0.6 Individual items
CMS pages 0.3 - 0.5 Supporting content
Terms/Privacy 0.1 - 0.2 Required but low SEO value

Frequency Guidelines

Match frequency to actual content changes:

Content Type Recommended Frequency
Homepage daily (promotions change)
Categories weekly
Products daily (price/stock updates)
Blog posts weekly
Static CMS pages monthly

Robots Best Practices

Do's and Don'ts

Do's:

  • ✅ Use INDEX,FOLLOW for pages you want ranked
  • ✅ Use NOINDEX,FOLLOW for filter pages and search results
  • ✅ Keep internal link equity flowing with FOLLOW
  • ✅ Set consistent robots across similar page types

Don'ts:

  • ❌ Block important pages with NOINDEX
  • ❌ Use NOFOLLOW on your own internal links
  • ❌ Forget to check robots settings after updates

When to Use NOINDEX

Use NOINDEX for pages that:

  • Duplicate content (filtered category views)
  • Have thin content (empty categories)
  • Are utility pages (search results, account pages)
  • Create crawl budget waste

Keep these pages as NOINDEX,FOLLOW so link equity still flows.

Robots Settings by Page Type

Page Type Recommended Setting Notes
Main categories INDEX, FOLLOW Primary landing pages
Filtered categories NOINDEX, FOLLOW Prevent duplicate content
Products INDEX, FOLLOW Main catalog pages
Out of stock products Consider NOINDEX If permanently unavailable
CMS content pages INDEX, FOLLOW About, contact, etc.
Legal pages INDEX, FOLLOW or NOINDEX Depends on SEO strategy
Search results NOINDEX, FOLLOW Internal utility page

Sitemap + Robots Alignment

Ensure your sitemap and robots settings work together:

Alignment Checklist

  • Pages marked NOINDEX should be excluded from sitemap
  • Enable "Exclude No-Index" options in sitemap settings
  • Verify excluded pages don't appear in generated sitemap
  • Check sitemap after changing robots defaults

Common Misalignment Issues

Problem Impact Solution
NOINDEX pages in sitemap Wastes crawl budget Enable noindex exclusion
Important pages set to NOINDEX Pages won't rank Review robots settings
Sitemap not updated after robots change Stale data Regenerate sitemap

Search Console Integration

Submitting Your Sitemap

  1. Generate your sitemap via admin or CLI
  2. Copy the sitemap URL from the Feeds section
  3. Go to Google Search Console
  4. Navigate to Sitemaps
  5. Enter your sitemap URL and submit

Monitoring

Check Search Console regularly for:

  • Indexing errors
  • Coverage issues
  • Sitemap processing status

Performance Optimization

Large Catalogs

For stores with 10,000+ products:

  • Set appropriate file limits (50,000 URLs max)
  • Use daily cron generation during low-traffic hours
  • Consider category filtering if not all products need indexing

Crawl Budget

Optimize crawl budget by:

  • Excluding low-value pages via NOINDEX
  • Using realistic update frequencies
  • Keeping sitemap focused on important pages

Need More Help?

Documentation:

Support:

Created:
Updated:
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