XML Sitemap Generator - Create Sitemaps Online Free

Build valid XML sitemaps for search engines. Add URLs with priority, change frequency, and last modified dates. Download ready-to-use sitemap.xml files. 100% client side - no data leaves your browser.

Add URL

Enter a URL and configure its sitemap properties, or use a preset to fill in common values.

Bulk Import

Paste a list of URLs (one per line). They will be added with the default settings below.

URL List (0 URLs)

Generated Sitemap

What Is an XML Sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the important URLs on your website. It helps search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo discover and crawl your pages more efficiently. Think of it as a roadmap that tells crawlers exactly which pages exist, how often they change, and which ones matter most.

Why Sitemaps Matter for SEO

Search engines use sitemaps to understand your site structure. Without one, crawlers rely solely on following links from page to page, which means orphaned pages or deep content might never get indexed. A well-structured sitemap ensures every important page gets crawled. This is especially critical for large websites with hundreds or thousands of pages, newly launched sites with few inbound links, and sites with rich media or dynamic content that search engines might otherwise miss.

Understanding Sitemap Properties

Each URL in a sitemap can include three optional but valuable properties. The changefreq tag tells search engines how often a page is likely to change, with values ranging from "always" to "never." The priority tag is a hint about how important a page is relative to other pages on your site, scored from 0.0 to 1.0. Your homepage typically gets 1.0, while less important pages might use 0.3 or lower. The lastmod tag indicates when the page was last updated, helping crawlers decide whether to re-index the page.

Best Practices for Sitemaps

Keep your sitemap under 50,000 URLs and 50MB uncompressed, as these are the limits set by the sitemap protocol. If your site exceeds these limits, split it into multiple sitemaps and reference them from a sitemap index file. Only include canonical URLs, and make sure every URL in your sitemap returns a 200 status code. Avoid listing pages blocked by robots.txt or tagged with a noindex directive. Update the lastmod date only when the page content actually changes, not on every sitemap regeneration. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools for faster discovery.

Where to Place Your Sitemap

The standard location is at the root of your domain: https://example.com/sitemap.xml. You should also reference it in your robots.txt file with a Sitemap: directive. This tool generates a valid XML sitemap that you can upload directly to your web server or submit to search engine webmaster tools.

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