Sitemap and robots.txt
Once the connection is verified, SimplifyLocal serves a sitemap of the project pages on the site’s own address:
https://yourbusiness.com/work/sitemap.xmlIt lists every published project page and the service and location index pages, with correct last-modified dates, and updates on its own whenever a page changes. No build step is needed; the forwarding rule you already added covers it. Don’t add a more specific rule for /work/sitemap.xml that bypasses the forwarding.
Search engines still have to be told it exists. This is a required setup step: Setup → Get found on Google → Point Google at your project pages. The app shows both options below with the address filled in and a copy button for each.
Option 1: add a line to robots.txt (works on any site)
Section titled “Option 1: add a line to robots.txt (works on any site)”Most sites have a robots.txt file at the root of the web address. Add this line anywhere in it:
Sitemap: https://yourbusiness.com/work/sitemap.xmlThis works whatever shape the site’s own sitemap takes, including the single-file sitemap Next.js, Yoast and RankMath generate.
Option 2: add an entry to a sitemap index
Section titled “Option 2: add an entry to a sitemap index”Only if the site’s main sitemap is a sitemap index (a file that lists other sitemaps). Add this entry inside it:
<sitemap><loc>https://yourbusiness.com/work/sitemap.xml</loc></sitemap>If the main sitemap lists pages directly, use Option 1 instead; this entry is not valid inside a page list. On WordPress with Yoast or RankMath, look for “Add additional sitemap” in the plugin settings.
Check my sitemap
Section titled “Check my sitemap”Press Check my sitemap in the app. It reads the site’s /sitemap.xml and /robots.txt and reports one of:
- We found your project pages in your sitemap. Google will pick them up. The step is done.
- We reached your sitemap, but it doesn’t list your project pages yet. Add the line, deploy, and check again.
- We couldn’t read your sitemap just yet. The site, its
sitemap.xmlor itsrobots.txtdidn’t answer. Make sure the site is up, then check again.
The check tolerates www versus bare-domain and http versus https differences, and follows redirects. If the line is in place but the check still can’t confirm it (for example robots.txt sits behind a bot wall), the app offers I’ve added it. Mark done after a failed check.
Google Search Console
Section titled “Google Search Console”Connecting Google Search Console (Setup → Connect Google Search Console) also sends Google the project-pages sitemap directly. That is in addition to, not instead of, the robots.txt line: the line is what lets any crawler find the sitemap, Search Console or not.
Building the URLs into your own sitemap
Section titled “Building the URLs into your own sitemap”A static site that generates its own sitemap at build time can pull the project URLs from the Publish API instead of referencing the renderer’s sitemap. See Add job URLs to a static sitemap. For most sites, the Sitemap: line is simpler and stays current without a rebuild.