An XML sitemap is a machine-readable representation of a website, which web crawlers (such as Googlebot) can access and index.
If the sitemap is enabled for the shop, eSeller Cloud automatically generates an XML sitemap located at https://[your-shop-URL]/GoogleSitemap.ashx
The sitemap is configured in the shop administration at Marketing > Partner programs > Google/MSN/Yahoo XML sitemap.
Check the “Activate sitemap” checkbox to enable the sitemap for the shop.
The sitemap URL returns a sitemap index containing references to one or more sitemaps. A separate sitemap is created for each 10.000 URLs in the sitemap.
Each sitemap in the index is located at
https://[your-shop-URL]/GoogleSitemap-1.ashx
https://[your-shop-URL]/GoogleSitemap-2.ashx
https://[your-shop-URL]/GoogleSitemap-3.ashx
etc.
Localized versions - hreflang
If your webshop contains localized versions of content for different languages or countries, it is possible to specify this in the sitemap. Doing so will help Google point uses to the most appropriate version of your page. Moreover, it will reduce the risk of content being deemed as duplicate.
Let’s say your shop has 3 different domains specified; "myesellercloud.dk", "myesellercloud.de" and "myesellercloud.com". Each domain is configured like so:
Myesellercloud.dk has default language Danish and default country Denmark
Myesellercloud.de has default language German and default country Germany
Myesellercloud.de has default language English and no default country.
By setting this up in the shop administration, the sitemap for each domain will contain alternate links to any other domains on the shop that are enabled for indexing and that have a default language specified.
Note that domains that the sitemap does not include alternate URLs for domains that only have country specified. Moreover, domains are only included in the sitemap as alternate URLs if they are “Indexed in search engines” and “Search engines are allowed to follow links”.
Including URLs from multiple shops
It is possible to configure the sitemap to include alternate URLs for domains set up on different shops within the same account. This is useful in situations where language/country specific versions are set up as separate shops rather than just separate domains on the same shop.
In the shop administration at Marketing > Partner programs > Google/MSN/Yahoo XML sitemap it is possible to configure whether domains from other shops on the account should be included in the sitemap.
When enabling alternative links from other shops, a popup will ask you whether you want the configuration to be mutual – that is; if on shop A you choose to include URLs from shop B domains, should the sitemaps on shop B then also include alternative URLs for shop A domains?
In the shop administration you can see an overview of which domains are included in the sitemap from the shop itself and from other shops on the account.