To create an HTML sitemap page in WordPress, we recommend utilizing the All in One SEO plugin. It’s the most popular WordPress SEO plugin on the market, with over 2 million installations, and it allows you to produce an HTML sitemap in just a few clicks.
Note: Although there is a free version of All in One SEO Lite that contains the HTML sitemap feature described below, we will be using the premium version in our screenshot example because it includes all of the strong features such as smart sitemaps, redirection manager, SEO schema, and more.
The first step is to install the All in One SEO plugin. See our step-by-step guide on installing a WordPress plugin for more information.
Upon activation, the AIOSEO setup wizard will appear, guiding you through the process of installing the plugin and configuring your SEO settings. Simply click the “Let’s Get Started” button and follow the on-screen instructions.
You’ll then be transported to your WordPress admin dashboard, where you’ll notice a new menu option named ‘All in One SEO.’
Then go to All in One SEO » Sitemaps, select the ‘HTML Sitemap’ menu option, and switch on the ‘Enable Sitemap’ toggle.
After that, you can decide how you want your HTML sitemap to be displayed.
We’ll use the ‘Dedicated Page’ option for this tutorial, but you can also use it as a shortcode, block, widget, and more.
Then type in the URL of the page where you wish the HTML sitemap to appear. The plugin will create a new page for you automatically.
After that, scroll down to the section titled “HTML Sitemap Settings.”
You can change the appearance of your HTML sitemap here. You have complete control over which articles and pages appear on the page, as well as taxonomies like categories and tags, sort order, and more.
If you enable ‘Compact Archives,’ your HTML sitemap will be shown in a compact date archive format.
This is similar to how WPBeginner displays our compressed archives on our 404 pages.
Make sure to click the ‘Save Changes’ button once you’ve finished configuring your HTML sitemap settings.
Your visitors can now see your HTML sitemap and move around your website more simply.
If you selected the ‘Dedicated Page’ option above, click the ‘Open HTML Sitemap’ button to get to the page.