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XML Sitemap Generator

Free

Generate a valid XML sitemap from your URL list instantly. Set priority, changefreq, and lastmod for every URL — no server access needed.

generate xml sitemapxml sitemap creatorcreate sitemap xml
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Settings guide

URL format:

All URLs must start with https:// (or http:// for non-SSL sites). Never include query parameters in sitemaps unless those parameters represent distinct canonical content.

Priority values:

  • ·1.0 — Homepage and your most important landing pages
  • ·0.8 — Category pages and high-traffic section hubs
  • ·0.6 — Regular blog posts and product pages
  • ·0.4 — Supporting content and secondary pages
  • ·0.2 — Low-priority archive or older content

changefreq recommendations:

  • ·Homepage: daily or always
  • ·Blog posts: weekly (for new posts) → monthlyyearly as they age
  • ·Static pages: monthly or yearly
  • ·E-commerce products: weekly (if price/stock changes)

lastmod format:

Use ISO 8601 date format: YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., 2025-01-15). Use the actual last modification date, not today's date — Google penalizes inflated lastmod values.

Format comparison

XML sitemap vs HTML sitemap:

An XML sitemap is a machine-readable file for search engines. An HTML sitemap is a human-readable page for site visitors. They serve different purposes and are not interchangeable. A large site benefits from having both: the XML version for crawlers and the HTML version for user navigation.

XML sitemap vs robots.txt:

Robots.txt controls which pages crawlers are allowed to visit. A sitemap tells crawlers which pages exist and are worth visiting. They work together: your robots.txt should contain a Sitemap: directive pointing to your sitemap file location.

How it works

1

Enter your URLs

Paste or type your page URLs, one per line, as absolute HTTPS addresses.

2

Set attributes

Assign priority (0.0–1.0), changefreq, and lastmod date for each URL or apply defaults across all.

3

Generate and download

Download the valid sitemap.xml file ready for upload to your server root.

4

Submit to Google Search Console

Go to Sitemaps in Search Console, enter your sitemap URL, and click Submit to notify Google.

About this format

An XML sitemap is a structured list of your website's URLs that tells search engines which pages exist, how important each page is relative to others, and how frequently content changes. It is the fastest way to ensure new or updated pages are discovered by Googlebot — especially on large sites or sites with limited inbound internal links.

This generator creates a valid `sitemap.xml` file following the Sitemap Protocol 0.9 standard that Google, Bing, and other major search engines fully support. Paste your URLs, set optional attributes like priority, changefreq, and lastmod, and download the ready-to-submit sitemap file in seconds.

Every URL in an XML sitemap must be a fully qualified absolute URL — `https://yourdomain.com/page` not `/page`. The `priority` attribute ranges from 0.0 to 1.0 (1.0 being highest priority) and only communicates relative importance within your own site. The `changefreq` attribute hints how often content changes: `daily`, `weekly`, `monthly`, or `yearly`. Use these attributes as hints — Google makes its own crawl frequency decisions based on actual content change signals.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an XML sitemap for a small website?+
A sitemap helps any website, but it is most impactful for large sites, sites with pages that are not well interlinked, new sites with few backlinks, and sites that update content frequently. For a small brochure site with good internal linking, a sitemap is helpful but less critical than for a blog or e-commerce store.
How many URLs can an XML sitemap contain?+
The sitemap protocol allows a maximum of 50,000 URLs per sitemap file and a maximum uncompressed file size of 50 MB. For larger sites, create multiple sitemap files and reference them all from a sitemap index file at your root.
Where do I put the XML sitemap file on my server?+
Place it at the root of your domain: yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. This is where search engines expect to find it by default. If you place it in a subdirectory, reference it explicitly in your robots.txt with a Sitemap: directive so crawlers can find it.
How long does it take Google to process a submitted sitemap?+
Google typically processes a newly submitted sitemap within a few days to a week. You can monitor processing status and any errors in Google Search Console under the Sitemaps section. New URLs in the sitemap may take additional time to be crawled and indexed after the sitemap is processed.
Should I include every page in my XML sitemap?+
Include only canonical, indexable pages. Exclude pages with noindex meta tags, redirects, duplicate content, and low-quality thin pages. Submitting non-indexable URLs wastes crawl budget and can dilute the sitemap's signal. Quality over quantity applies to sitemaps just as it does to backlinks.

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