Free Online XML Sitemap Generator
Create a valid XML sitemap for your website instantly. Enter your URLs, configure change frequency and priority, then copy the generated sitemap code.
What Is an XML Sitemap?
An XML sitemap is a file that lists all important URLs on your website in a structured format that search engines can easily read. It acts as a roadmap for crawlers, helping them discover and index your pages more efficiently. Sitemaps are especially useful for large websites, new websites with few backlinks, or sites with pages not well-connected through internal links.
Sitemap Best Practices
Keep your sitemap under 50,000 URLs and 50MB uncompressed as specified by the Sitemap protocol. Only include canonical URLs that return a 200 status code. Set accurate change frequencies and priorities. Do not set every page to highest priority, as this makes the signal meaningless. Update the lastmod date only when the page content actually changes.
How to Submit Your Sitemap
After generating your sitemap, save it as sitemap.xml at your website root. Submit it through Google Search Console under the Sitemaps section. You can also add a reference in your robots.txt file with: Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. This ensures all search engine crawlers can find it automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many URLs can a sitemap contain?
A single XML sitemap can contain up to 50,000 URLs and must not exceed 50MB uncompressed. If your site has more URLs, create a sitemap index file that references multiple sitemap files.
What is the changefreq tag for?
The changefreq tag provides a hint to search engines about how often a page is likely to change. Options range from always to never. Note that this is a hint, not a directive, and search engines may crawl at different frequencies.
What does priority mean in a sitemap?
Priority is a value from 0.0 to 1.0 that suggests the relative importance of a page compared to other pages on your site. The default is 0.5. This helps search engines understand which pages you consider most important.
Do I need a sitemap for a small website?
Even small websites benefit from a sitemap. It ensures that search engines discover all your pages, especially new ones. For sites with fewer than a few hundred well-linked pages, it is less critical but still recommended.
Should I include images in my sitemap?
Google supports image sitemaps using the image:image extension. This can help your images appear in Google Image search. You can either add image tags within your existing sitemap or create a separate image sitemap.