Sitemap XML Generator
Generate a sitemap.xml for your website. Add URLs, set priority and frequency, then download or copy.
What Is a Sitemap and Why You Need One
A sitemap is an XML file that lists every page on your website you want search engines to find. Think of it as a table of contents for crawlers. Without one, Google has to discover your pages by following links — which means orphaned pages (no links pointing to them) might never get indexed.
For small sites with good internal linking, a sitemap is a nice-to-have. For sites with hundreds of pages, dynamic content, or pages behind JavaScript rendering, it's essential. Google Search Console actually tells you to submit a sitemap — it's one of the first things you do when setting up a new site.
Sitemap Tag Reference
| Tag | Required? | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| <loc> | Yes | Full URL of the page | https://example.com/about |
| <lastmod> | Recommended | Last modification date (ISO 8601) | 2026-04-14 |
| <changefreq> | Optional | How often the page changes | weekly, monthly, daily |
| <priority> | Optional | Relative importance (0.0-1.0) | 1.0 for homepage, 0.5 for blog posts |
What this means for you: Google has said it largely ignores changefreq and priority — it determines crawl frequency based on its own observations. However, lastmod is genuinely useful and can prompt re-crawling of updated content. Always keep lastmod accurate.
Sitemap Best Practices
Keep It Under 50MB / 50,000 URLs
Google limits individual sitemaps to 50MB uncompressed or 50,000 URLs. For larger sites, use a sitemap index file that points to multiple sitemap files.
Reference It in robots.txt
Add Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml to your robots.txt file. This ensures every crawler finds it, not just Google.
Only Include Indexable Pages
Don't include pages with noindex tags, pages that 301 redirect, or error pages. The sitemap should only list canonical, indexable URLs that return 200 status codes.
Submit to Google Search Console
After uploading your sitemap, submit it through Google Search Console's Sitemaps section. This triggers immediate crawling and lets you monitor indexing status.
Types of Sitemaps
| Type | File | Purpose | Who Needs It |
|---|---|---|---|
| XML Sitemap | sitemap.xml | Lists all pages for search engines | Every website |
| Sitemap Index | sitemap-index.xml | Points to multiple sitemap files | Sites with 50,000+ URLs |
| Image Sitemap | image-sitemap.xml | Lists images for Google Image search | Photography, e-commerce |
| Video Sitemap | video-sitemap.xml | Lists video content with metadata | Sites hosting video content |
| News Sitemap | news-sitemap.xml | Lists articles for Google News | News publishers only |
This tool generates standard XML sitemaps. For most websites, that's all you need. Image and video sitemaps are only worth the effort if you're specifically targeting Google Image or Video search results.
Related Tools
Robots.txt Generator
Reference your sitemap URL in your robots.txt file.
Meta Tag Generator
Add meta tags to the pages listed in your sitemap.
Schema Markup Generator
Add structured data to your sitemap-listed pages for rich results.
XML Formatter
Pretty-print and validate your generated sitemap XML.
Google SERP Preview
Preview how your indexed pages appear in search results.
Slug Generator
Create clean URL paths for your sitemap entries.
How to use this tool
Enter your website domain (e.g. https://example.com)
Add page paths with their change frequency and priority
Click Generate Sitemap, then copy or download the XML file
Common uses
- Creating XML sitemaps for new website launches
- Generating sitemaps for submission to Google Search Console
- Building sitemaps for static sites without CMS auto-generation
- Adding sitemap entries for new pages and blog posts
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