Sitemap XML — every field and when to use it
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/page</loc>
<lastmod>2026-04-18</lastmod>
<changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
<priority>0.8</priority>
</url>
...
</urlset>
- <loc> — required. Full absolute URL including protocol. Must match site's canonical scheme + host (no mixing http/https, no www-vs-non-www).
- <lastmod> — strongly recommended. W3C Datetime format (
YYYY-MM-DDor ISO 8601 with time). Google uses this as a crawl prioritization signal. - <changefreq> — mostly ignored by modern crawlers. Legacy hint (
always,hourly,daily,weekly,monthly,yearly,never). Skip if lastmod is accurate. - <priority> — also mostly ignored. 0.0-1.0 scale. Skip.
Limits: max 50,000 URLs per sitemap, max 50MB uncompressed. Exceed either → split into multiple sitemaps and reference them from a sitemap index.
Submitting your sitemap
- Reference in robots.txt —
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml. Most crawlers auto-discover. - Google Search Console — Index → Sitemaps → paste URL → Submit.
- Bing Webmaster Tools — Sitemaps → Submit sitemap.
- Yandex Webmaster, Naver Search Advisor, Baidu Webmaster Tools — regional search engines for Russia, Korea, China respectively.
Submitting doesn't guarantee indexing. Google's decision to index is based on content quality, links, crawl budget, duplicates, noindex meta, robots.txt. The sitemap just tells them which URLs exist.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I validate an XML sitemap online?
Paste your sitemap URL or XML content. The validator checks XML schema compliance, URL count, duplicates, trailing whitespace, invalid encoding, broken `<loc>` URLs (404 / 5xx / bad protocol), and sitemap index structure. Pinpoints the exact line with any issue.
What should a sitemap.xml contain?
One `<url>` per canonical page: `<loc>` (absolute URL, matching protocol and host), optional `<lastmod>` (ISO 8601), `<changefreq>`, `<priority>`. For huge sites, split into sitemaps of max 50,000 URLs / 50MB each, referenced from a sitemap index.
How often should I update my sitemap?
Automatically on every content change if possible (static site generators do this). Manual sitemap: regenerate weekly or after bulk edits. `<lastmod>` is the critical field — accurate timestamps help search engines recrawl efficiently.
Why is Google not indexing URLs from my sitemap?
Sitemap is a hint, not a guarantee. Google decides based on: content quality, internal links, crawl budget, duplicates, noindex meta, robots.txt blocks, canonical tags pointing elsewhere. Our sitemap validator catches the mechanical issues; content issues need different tools.
Do I submit my sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing?
Yes. GSC: Index → Sitemaps → add URL. Bing Webmaster Tools: Sitemaps → Submit. Also reference the sitemap in robots.txt (`Sitemap: https://...`). Most major engines auto-discover through robots.txt; explicit submission speeds up first crawl.
Smarter quality checks. Faster deployments.
Better apps.
