How To Check My Sitemap

How to Find and Control Your XML Sitemap in PhotoBiz

Overview

Your PhotoBiz website automatically includes an XML sitemap that helps search engines discover the pages on your website. PhotoBiz generates and updates this sitemap for you, so you do not need to create or maintain it manually.

Your individual page visibility settings determine which pages appear in the sitemap. In this guide, you will learn how to find your sitemap URL, control which pages are included, and keep a page out of your navigation while leaving it available to search engines.

How Your XML Sitemap Works

An XML sitemap is a structured list of website URLs that search engines can use to find and crawl your content.

Your PhotoBiz sitemap works automatically:

Pages set to Visible are included in the sitemap.
Pages set to Hidden are excluded from the sitemap.
Hidden pages remain available online through their direct URLs.
Search engines may still discover and index a hidden page.
The sitemap uses the canonical https://www version of your website URLs.
PhotoBiz updates the sitemap when you add, remove, or change pages.
You cannot manually add, remove, or edit URLs inside the sitemap.

Being included in a sitemap can help search engines discover a page, but it does not guarantee that the page will appear in search results. Removing a page from the sitemap also does not prevent a search engine from finding or indexing the page through other sources.

PRO TIP!

If you are using landing pages that you do not want shown in your main navigation but still want indexed by search engines, leave those pages set to Visible. You can place them inside a navigation dropdown that is set to Hidden so they remain accessible to search engines without appearing in your main menu.

STEP ONE

Log in to your PhotoBiz account and click WEBSITE in the left-side menu. This opens the Website Builder for your site.

STEP TWO

Click TRACKING at the top center of the Website Builder. This section contains your sitemap URL and other website tracking settings.

FINAL STEP

Locate the Sitemap URL in the Tracking section.

You can copy this URL and submit it to services such as Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools. Your sitemap is already active, even if you do not submit it manually.

PhotoBiz will continue updating the sitemap automatically as you add, remove, or change the visibility of your website pages.

Control Which Pages Appear in Your Sitemap

Your individual page visibility settings control whether a page appears in the XML sitemap.

Set a page to Visible when you want it included in the sitemap.
Set a page to Hidden when you want it excluded from the sitemap.
Visibility changes are reflected in the sitemap automatically.
You do not need to regenerate or resubmit the sitemap after making changes.

The Hidden setting only controls whether the page appears in the sitemap. It does not take the page offline.

Anyone with the direct URL can still visit a hidden page. Search engines may also discover the page through internal links, external links, previously collected information, or other sources.

Keep a Page Out of Your Navigation but Include It in Your Sitemap

You may want to create a landing page or other website page that does not appear in your main navigation menu but remains included in your sitemap.

To do this, place the page inside a dropdown menu that is set to Hidden. Keep the individual page inside the dropdown set to Visible.

This setup separates the dropdown menu visibility from the page visibility:

The hidden dropdown prevents the dropdown and its pages from appearing in your main navigation.
The visible page remains included in your XML sitemap.
Visitors can access the page through a direct link.
Search engines can discover the page through the sitemap.

Do not set the individual page to Hidden when you want it included in the sitemap. The dropdown should be hidden, while the page inside it remains visible.

Hidden, Disabled, and Deleted Pages

These page settings have different effects on your website and sitemap.

Visible Pages

A visible page is available online and included in your XML sitemap. It can also appear in your navigation unless it is placed inside a hidden dropdown menu.

Hidden Pages

A hidden page is removed from your XML sitemap but remains available online through its direct URL.

Because the page is still online, Google and other search engines may still discover or index it.

Disabled or Deleted Pages

To prevent a page from remaining available online, you must disable or delete it.

Disabling or deleting a page prevents visitors and search engines from continuing to access the active page URL. However, a previously indexed page may continue to appear in search results temporarily while the search engine recrawls your website and processes the change.

Additional Options or Helpful Notes

Sitemap Submission Is Optional

Your sitemap works automatically and does not need to be submitted before search engines can find it.

Submitting the sitemap through Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools can make it easier to review:

Whether the sitemap was processed successfully
How many URLs were discovered
Whether search engines found sitemap errors
Which pages may have indexing issues

Sitemap Inclusion Does Not Guarantee Indexing

A sitemap helps search engines discover pages, but each search engine decides which pages to index.

Factors that may affect indexing include:

The quality and usefulness of the page content
Duplicate or very similar content
Redirects
Canonical URLs
Broken links
Previously indexed versions of the page
Search engine crawling and indexing policies

Your Sitemap Uses Canonical URLs

PhotoBiz automatically uses the canonical https://www version of your website URLs in the sitemap. This helps search engines identify the preferred version of each page.

For more information about the SEO tools included with your PhotoBiz Website Package, see PhotoBiz SEO Starter Checklist: SEO Tools Included with Your Website Package.

Troubleshooting and FAQs

Why is a page missing from my sitemap?

Confirm that the individual page is set to Visible. Pages set to Hidden are automatically excluded from the XML sitemap.

Why does a page appear in my sitemap but not in my navigation?

The page may be set to Visible inside a dropdown menu that is set to Hidden. This keeps the page in the sitemap without displaying it in your main navigation.

Can Google index a hidden page?

Yes. The Hidden setting removes the page from your sitemap, but the page remains available online through its direct URL. Search engines may still discover and index it.

How do I prevent a page from being indexed?

Disable or delete the page so it is no longer available online. Setting the page to Hidden only removes it from the sitemap.

A page that was already indexed may remain in search results until the search engine recrawls your website and processes the change.

Does adding a page to the sitemap guarantee that Google will index it?

No. The sitemap helps Google discover and crawl the page, but Google decides whether the page will be indexed and shown in search results.

Do I need to update my sitemap after changing my website?

No. PhotoBiz automatically updates your XML sitemap when you add, remove, or change the visibility of your pages.

Previous Post Next Post

How do I verify my website with Google Search Console?

July 8, 2025

How do I submit my sitemap to Google?

January 27, 2026

How To Customize the Site Name and Publish the Sitemap

February 20, 2026

How do I add Google Analytics tracking to my website?

July 25, 2025