When I launched my first website, I waited three weeks and only the homepage appeared in Google. My blog posts were invisible. The reason was simple. Google had no map of my site, and my posts were linked only from a page that loaded with JavaScript. The day I submitted a sitemap, Google found every post within a few days.
What is an XML sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file, usually at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml, that lists the important URLs on your website. It can also include the last modified date for each page. Search engines use it as a guide to discover and recrawl your pages. It does not guarantee ranking, but it makes sure nothing important is missed.
How our generator works
Our XML Sitemap Generator can work in two ways:
- Crawl mode: enter your website and it crawls up to 40 pages by following internal links, skipping broken pages, noindex pages, images, files and admin areas.
- Manual mode: paste your own list of URLs, one per line, for full control.
It then builds a valid sitemap with loc, lastmod, optional changefreq and priority values. You can copy the code or download sitemap.xml directly.
How to use it
- Open the XML Sitemap Generator.
- Enter your website address.
- Choose a change frequency or leave it out.
- Optionally paste extra URLs.
- Click Generate Sitemap and download the file.
How to upload and submit it
- Upload sitemap.xml to the root folder of your website so it opens at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml.
- Add a line to robots.txt: Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. Our Robots.txt Generator can add it for you.
- Open Google Search Console, go to Sitemaps and submit the sitemap URL.
- Check back after a few days to see how many URLs were discovered.
What to include and exclude
- Include: pages you want in Google, such as the homepage, service pages, products, categories and blog posts.
- Exclude: login pages, cart and checkout, thank you pages, internal search results, duplicate URLs and anything with noindex.
Every URL in the sitemap should return status 200 and be the canonical version.
Large websites
If your site has hundreds or thousands of pages, most platforms like WordPress, Shopify and Blogger create sitemaps automatically. In that case use the Sitemap URL Extractor to see what your existing sitemap contains and confirm nothing important is missing.
A real example
A small tour operator built a website with a page builder that did not create a sitemap. Only seven of their thirty tour pages were indexed after two months. We crawled the site with the generator, removed two duplicate pages from the list, uploaded the file and submitted it in Search Console. Within a week Google had discovered all the remaining tour pages, and several started receiving impressions for destination searches.
Keep it updated
A sitemap should reflect your current site. Regenerate it after adding new sections or many new pages, and remove URLs you have deleted. An outdated sitemap full of broken links wastes crawl time and confuses search engines.
Sitemaps and new websites
New websites benefit the most from a sitemap because they have few backlinks pointing to them. Without links, Google has fewer paths to discover pages. Submitting a sitemap on launch day gives every page an equal chance to be found. Combine it with a few internal links from your homepage and your new pages usually appear much faster.
Frequently asked questions
Do small websites need a sitemap
It is still helpful, especially for new sites with few backlinks.
Does priority in a sitemap matter
Google largely ignores priority and changefreq. The URL list and lastmod are what matter.
How often should I update my sitemap
Whenever you add or remove important pages.
Create your sitemap now with the free XML Sitemap Generator.