What a sitemap does for your site
A sitemap is an XML file, sitemap.xml, that lists the pages you want search engines to know about. It does not push your site up the rankings. What it does is help crawlers discover new pages sooner and avoid missing pages that are poorly linked from the rest of the site.
On a one-page landing the effect is small. On a site with services, a blog and a catalogue that grows over time, a clean sitemap is a simple way to keep search engines informed. Tilda creates and updates it for published pages, so nobody has to write it by hand. Your job is making sure it contains what it should.
Where to find your Tilda sitemap
Connect your own domain and publish the project first. Then open yourdomain/sitemap.xml in a browser. You should see a list of page URLs. If you get an error, confirm that the project is published and that you are using the connected domain rather than the project's technical address.
The second place to look is yourdomain/robots.txt, which normally includes a Sitemap line pointing to the file. If you run a shop or a blog, the sitemap may be split into several files under one index. Open each one and check that it loads and shows current products and posts.
What to check in the list of URLs
You cannot edit the sitemap directly. It includes published pages that are not blocked from indexing, so unwanted URLs are removed through the page's own settings: block indexing or unpublish the page, then republish the project.
Scan the list against this checklist:
- the homepage, services, contacts and articles are all present;
- there are no thank-you pages shown after a form submission, test copies or old versions;
- every URL uses your main domain over https;
- no URL redirects to another address;
- addresses are readable rather than strings like page12345.html;
- pages for promotions that ended long ago have not piled up.
Submitting the sitemap to Google and Yandex
For Google, verify your site in Google Search Console, open the Sitemaps section, enter sitemap.xml and submit. After a while the report shows the processing status and the number of discovered pages. If Google reports an error, open the file in a browser and look for URLs that do not load.
For Yandex, verify the site in Yandex Webmaster, go to Indexing, then Sitemap files, and add the address. You only add the sitemap once, and both search engines re-read it on their own. The exception is a sitemap you submitted while the site still lived on Tilda's technical address: once the domain is connected, submit the new one.
Uzbek and Russian versions of one site
Bilingual sites are normal for businesses in Tashkent and the regions. In Tilda the language versions are often built as separate projects or separate pages. If they are separate projects, each has its own sitemap, and every one should be added to Search Console and Webmaster.
A common mistake: the Uzbek pages are prepared as a draft with indexing blocked, then published, and the block is never removed. Ads on Instagram or Telegram keep sending people to those pages, yet the site stays invisible in search for queries in Uzbek.
The page is in the sitemap but not in the index
A sitemap is a hint, not an instruction. The search engine decides for itself whether a page deserves to be indexed. If URLs are listed but missing from the index, open the reports in Search Console and Webmaster, which state the reasons. The usual suspects are very thin content, a near-duplicate of another page, and no internal links pointing to it.
Add useful text, and link to the page from the homepage and related sections. For an important new page you can also request indexing with URL Inspection in Search Console and send it for recrawling in Webmaster.
How often to check, and when to get help
Open the sitemap after publishing new pages, changing URLs, deleting sections or connecting a new domain. Once a month, compare the number of pages found in the two panels with the real number of pages on the site. It takes a few minutes.
If your Tilda site brings no customers from search and the cause is unclear, the problem is wider than the sitemap: structure, copy, speed and indexing. markdev does SEO optimisation for websites in Uzbekistan and can review your sitemap, indexing reports and page structure, then tell you what to fix first. Send us your task and we will talk it through.
FAQ
Do I need to create a sitemap on Tilda manually?
No. Tilda generates and updates it for published pages. You only need to check its contents and add it once to Google Search Console and Yandex Webmaster.
Why is my page missing from the Tilda sitemap?
Usually the page is unpublished or has indexing blocked in its settings. Remove the block, republish the project and check the sitemap again.
Does a sitemap guarantee that a page will be indexed?
No. It helps search engines find the page, but they decide on indexing themselves. Check the reports in Search Console and Yandex Webmaster for the reasons.
What should I do after connecting my own domain?
Make sure the sitemap now shows your main domain, then submit it for that domain in Search Console and Webmaster. Stop using the old file with the technical address.
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