How to Create XML Sitemap
- Enter your website domain in the input field
- Choose a template or add URLs manually
- Configure each URL's priority (0.1 to 1.0)
- Set change frequency for each page
- Add last modified date for accurate indexing
- Review the generated XML sitemap
- Download the sitemap.xml file
- Upload to your website's root directory
- Submit to Google Search Console and Bing
Best Sitemap Generator Features
- Multiple URLs: Add unlimited pages to your sitemap
- Priority Settings: Set importance for each page (0.1-1.0)
- Change Frequency: Indicate update frequency per page
- Last Modified Date: Track when pages were updated
- Quick Templates: Pre-configured for different site types
- Real-time Preview: See XML output as you configure
- Valid XML: Generates standards-compliant sitemaps
- Easy Download: Get ready-to-use sitemap.xml file
- Installation Guide: Instructions included in output
What is an XML Sitemap?
An XML sitemap is a file that lists all important pages on your website in a structured format that search engines can easily read. It helps search engine crawlers discover and index your content more efficiently. Sitemaps are especially useful for large websites, new websites with few backlinks, or sites with dynamic content.
Understanding Sitemap Elements
- <loc>: The URL of the page (required for each URL)
- <lastmod>: Date of last modification (YYYY-MM-DD format)
- <changefreq>: How frequently the page changes
- <priority>: Relative importance (0.0 to 1.0)
Priority Guidelines
- 1.0: Homepage and most important pages
- 0.8-0.9: Main category pages, key content
- 0.6-0.7: Regular blog posts, product pages
- 0.4-0.5: Archive pages, older content
- 0.1-0.3: Less important pages, tags
Change Frequency Guide
- Always: Documents that change each time accessed
- Hourly: News sites, real-time data feeds
- Daily: Blog homepages, frequently updated pages
- Weekly: Regular blog posts, product listings
- Monthly: About pages, service descriptions
- Yearly: Static content, archived material
- Never: Completely static pages
Pages to Include in Sitemap
- Homepage and main navigation pages
- All blog posts and articles
- Product and service pages
- Category and archive pages
- Important landing pages
- Pages you want indexed by search engines
Pages to Exclude from Sitemap
- Admin and login pages
- Thank you and confirmation pages
- Duplicate or thin content pages
- Pages blocked by robots.txt
- Pages with noindex meta tag
- Internal search result pages
- Cart and checkout pages
Sitemap Best Practices
- Keep sitemaps under 50MB and 50,000 URLs
- Use sitemap index files for larger sites
- Update sitemaps when content changes
- Use absolute URLs, not relative paths
- Ensure all URLs are accessible (not 404)
- Include only canonical versions of URLs
- Compress large sitemaps with gzip
- Reference sitemap in robots.txt
How to Submit Your Sitemap
Google Search Console:- 1. Go to Google Search Console
- 2. Select your property
- 3. Click "Sitemaps" in left menu
- 4. Enter sitemap URL and click "Submit"
Bing Webmaster Tools:- 1. Go to Bing Webmaster Tools
- 2. Select your site
- 3. Click "Sitemaps" in Configure My Site
- 4. Add sitemap URL and save
Types of Sitemaps
- XML Sitemap: For search engines, machine-readable
- HTML Sitemap: For users, human-readable page list
- Image Sitemap: Specifically for image content
- Video Sitemap: For video content metadata
- News Sitemap: For Google News publishers
- Mobile Sitemap: For mobile-specific pages (deprecated)
Sitemap Index Files
For large websites with more than 50,000 URLs or sitemaps over 50MB, create a sitemap index file that references multiple smaller sitemaps. This allows you to organize sitemaps by content type (blog, products, pages) or by date, making them easier to manage and update.
Common Sitemap Errors
- 404 Errors: URLs in sitemap return 404 - remove them
- Blocked by robots.txt: URLs disallowed in robots.txt
- Redirect Chains: URLs redirect to other pages
- Invalid XML: Syntax errors in sitemap file
- Incorrect Format: Missing required elements or namespaces
- Too Large: Sitemap exceeds size or URL limits
Monitoring Your Sitemap
- Check Google Search Console for coverage issues
- Monitor indexed vs submitted URLs
- Review error reports regularly
- Update sitemap when adding new content
- Ping search engines after updates
- Validate sitemap XML syntax
Sitemap and SEO Benefits
- Faster Discovery: New pages indexed more quickly
- Complete Coverage: Ensures all pages are found
- Priority Signals: Indicate most important pages
- Update Notifications: Alert engines to fresh content
- Better Crawling: Efficient use of crawl budget
- Improved Rankings: Well-indexed content ranks better
Why Use Our Sitemap Generator?
Our free XML sitemap generator makes creating professional sitemaps easy and fast. No coding required - just add your URLs, set priorities and update frequencies, and download a ready-to-use sitemap.xml file. Perfect for bloggers, businesses, developers, and SEO professionals. Choose from templates for different website types or create custom sitemaps with full control over every element. Generate standards-compliant XML sitemaps that work with Google, Bing, and all major search engines. No registration required - start creating your sitemap now and improve your website's SEO!