Sitemaps & RSS Essentials: How to Submit, When to Remove and How to Clean the Feed
Today's Contents:
• What Is a Sitemap?
• What Is an RSS Feed?
• Why Sitemaps and RSS Are Important for Blogger Users?
• How to Find Your Sitemap and RSS Feed URL in Blogger?
• How to Submit Your Sitemap and Rss Feed to Google Search Console?
• When You Should Remove or Update a Sitemap?
• FAQs:
1. How to Delete a Submitted Sitemap?
2. If I Remove a Sitemap from Google Search Console, Will It Delete my Blog Posts from Google Search?
"๐ดI am running a Google Blogger Site with the Dynamic Views theme installed."
Hello, Radiant Souls of the world!
Ever wonder how your blog posts magically show up on Google - or why sometimes they don't? That's where Sitemaps and RSS step in! Think of them as tiny messengers that tell the internet, "Hey, I've got new stuff!"
Today, we'll break down what they are, why they matter, how you can make them work for blog site like a pro, and when you should strategically remove them. At the end section of the post, you will also find helpful FAQs addressing frequently asked questions.
| What Is a Sitemap?
A sitemap is a special file that lists all the important pages on your blog. It's like a map that tells Google, "Here's everything you should find and show in search results!"
Sitemaps are meant to be permanent links that Google can crawl over time. Google needs the true, original sitemap URL without any special tricks like /ncr (No country redirect).
Without a sitemap, Google might miss some of your posts. With a sitemap, Google can discover and index your content faster and more accurately.
| What Is a RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It's a super easy way to share your new blog posts automatically with people and platforms that want to follow your updates.
Think of it like a news delivery service - every time you publish something new, RSS quietly sends it out to your readers, feed apps, or even other websites without lifting a finger.
| Why Are Sitemaps and RSS Important for Blogger Users?
Sitemaps help Google find and list all your blog posts faster, so your content actually shows up in search results. Then Google users will be able to find your pages easily.
Rss feeds make it easy for readers (and apps) to follow your latest posts without having to check your blog every day.
Both are like secret helpers working behind the scenes to grow your blog. Now that you know why they matter, let's dive into how to find your Sitemap and Rss feed URL in Blogger.
| How to Find Your Sitemap and Rss Feed URL in Blogger?
๐ Finding Your Blogger Sitemap URL
Good news! If you are using Blogger, your blog already has a Sitemap and RSS feed URL automatically created. Your sitemap in Blogger is usually located at:
https://yourblogname.blogspot.com/sitemap.xml
This sitemap is automatically built by Blogger and updates whenever you publish new posts. If sitemap.xml does not work, you can also use this alternative:
https://yourblogname.blogspot.com/atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=500
The atom.xml version is often better for submitting to Google Search Console, especially if your blog is new.
๐ Finding Your Blogger RSS Feed URL
Your RSS Feed is usually located at:
https://yourblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
This link automatically shares all your latest blog posts. Readers can subscribe to this feed using RSS apps like "Feedly or Bloglovin".
To get a feed for just one label ( category ), you can use:
https://yourblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/LabelName
Please, replace "LabelName" with your actual label.
Now that you've got your sitemap URL and RSS feed URL ready, let's submit it to Google Search Console. Here we go.
| How to Submit Your Sitemap and Rss Feed URL to Google Search Console?
Submitting your sitemap (and optional your RSS feed) to Google Search Console is like giving Google a treasure hunt map to crawl and show your blog in search results. Here's how to do it.
| Step 1. Open Google Search Console
· Go to Google Search Console.
· Log in with your Google account.
· Choose the correct property (your blog) from the list on the top-left.
| Step 2. Find the "Sitemaps" Section
· On the left menu, click "Sitemaps".
· You will see a field that says "Add a new sitemap" and then "Enter sitemap URL".
| Step 3. Enter Your Sitemap URL
· If your blog is https://bloggerx110.blogspot.com/, then Google automatically adds the beginning part, and you only need to enter in the box like:
atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=500
· Click "Submit". If you prefer, you can also submit sitemap.xml but atom.xml is often better for new Blogger blogs.
| Step 4. Submit Your RSS Feed (Optional)
· In Google Search Console > Sitemaps:
You can submit your RSS feed URL too, but it's not required. If you want to enter:
feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
Both URLs above are ways to access your Blogger blog's feed, but they are slightly different in format.
· feeds/posts/default gives you the feed in Atom format, which is Blogger's default. Atom is a type of web feed similar to RSS, but it's not exactly the same. Some feed readers and systems prefer RSS over Atom because RSS is older and more widely recognized.
· feeds/posts/default?alt=rss gives you the same content, but it converts the feed into pure RSS 2.0 format. RSS is the classic, standard format that many platforms (including Google) recognize more easily.
In short, They are the same in content, but the format is different - Atom for Blogger, RSS for everyone else!
| When You Should Remove or Update a Sitemap?
Your sitemap is like a menu for Google - it shows all the pages you want Google to find and list. But sometimes, the menu needs a little update (or a full refreshment) to keep things working smoothly.
Here's when you should think about removing or updating your sitemap.
| 1. When You Deleted a Lot of Old Blog Posts
If you removed a bunch of old posts (maybe because they were outdated or messy) your sitemap might still be pointing to URLs that no longer exist.
What to do:
· Update your sitemap by resubmitting it in Google Search Console. This helps Google clean out the old or broken links.
๐ For example, let's say you deleted 20 old posts about 2011 travel - resubmit your sitemap then Google doesn't keep crawling those missing pages.
| 2. When You Moved Your Blog to a New Domain
· If you changed your blog address (for example, from blogspot.com to your own .com domain), your old sitemap becomes outdated.
What to do:
· Remove the old sitemap from Search Console.
· Submit a new sitemap for your new domain.
๐ For example, if moved from
https://bloggerx110.blogspot.com to https://myawesomeblog.com
It's time to submit a new sitemap!
| 3. When You Changed Your Blog Structure
If you made major changes - like merging labels, changing URL paths, or switching from a multi-topic blog to a single-topic blog - your sitemap should reflect the new setup.
What to do:
· Resubmit your sitemap then Google undersatnd your new structure.
๐ For example, let's say you combined three food labels into one "Recipes" label - then updating the sitemap needs to match the new organization.
| 4. When Google Shows Sitemaps Errors
Sometimes Google Search Console will show warnings or errors like:
· "Couldn't fetch"
· "Submitted URL not found (404)"
· "Submitted URL blocked by robots.txt"
What to do:
· Check your sitemap, fix the issues and resubmit.
You don't need to remove or update your sitemap every time you publish a new post. Bolgger automatically updates your sitemap with new posts. You only need to act when big changes happen like you delete a lot of posts, move your blog to a new domain, change the structure, or see errors in Google Search Console.
| FAQs
▚ Q: "How to Delete a Submitted Sitemap?"
Answer:
· Go to Google Search Console.
· Log in with your Google account.
· Choose your blog (the correct property) from the left list.
· On the left menu, click "Sitemaps".
· You will see a list of the sitemaps you already submitted.
· Look for the sitemap you want to delete.
· Click directly on the sitemap link. This will open a detailed page showing its status and history.
· At the top-right corner of the page, you will see three vertical dots (⁝).
· Click it and choose "Remove sitemap".
· When a warnign window (for reconfirm) appears, click "Remove".
▚ Q: "If I Remove a Sitemap from Google Search Console, Will It Delete my Blog Posts from Google Search?"
Answer:
No! Removing a sitemap submitted does NOT remove your blog posts from Search results. It just tells Google to stop using that particular sitemap to discover your content. So, your already indexed pages will stay safe.
▚ Q: "How to Keep My RSS Feed Clean?"
"Keeping the feed clean" means making sure your blog's RSS feed only shows your real posts - without any broken links, junk content, or errors. A clean feed helps readers get the right updates and Google easily find your blog.
Here are simple tips to keep your feed clean.
1. Publish complete and good-quality posts. Do not publish empty, draft, or super short posts.
2. Fix or remove broken links. If your posts link to missing pages or dead websites, update or remove those links.
3. Avoid reposting the same content. Duplicate posts can confuse feed readers and Google.
4. Update old feed settings if needed. In Blogger, go to Settings > Site Feed and make sure your feed is Enabled and set to Full or Until Jump Break (not disabled).
Did you all enjoy today's post? We looked at sitemaps and RSS, which are helpful for beginner bloggers. I believe that today's content will be helpful to those who are now enjoying blogging or have a dream of growing their own blog in the future. I send my warm support to everyone around the world who is challenging themselves to achieve their wonderful dreams!
