Where should my sitemap live?

Conventionally at /sitemap.xml. Reference it from robots.txt with a Sitemap directive, and submit via Google Search Console for explicit tracking.

What's the maximum size?

50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file. Beyond that, split into multiple sitemaps and link via a sitemap index.

Are changefreq and priority used?

Most modern crawlers ignore them in favor of empirical data. Setting them does not hurt; just don't expect them to drive crawl behavior.

What date format should lastmod use?

ISO 8601: YYYY-MM-DD or full datetime with timezone (2024-01-15T12:00:00+00:00). Other formats are invalid.

Should I include all URLs?

No. Include canonical URLs you want indexed. Excluded should be: redirected URLs, non-canonical duplicates, paths that should not be indexed.

How often should sitemaps be regenerated?

When content changes. Static sites: rebuild on each deploy. Frequently-updated sites: nightly or on each content change.

Is my sitemap uploaded?

Validation happens in your browser. URL fetching may use a public proxy if cross-origin restrictions apply.

What about image and video sitemaps?

Sitemap protocol supports extensions for images, videos, and news. The validator handles standard sitemap; extensions can be added if needed.

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XML Sitemap Validator

Validate your XML sitemap instantly. Check for structural errors, missing required elements, invalid URLs, and date format issues. Free, client-side XML sitemap validator.

About XML Sitemap Validation

An XML sitemap is a file that lists URLs on a website along with metadata (last modified date, change frequency, priority) to help search engines crawl efficiently. Unlike robots.txt, which controls access, sitemaps suggest URLs that should be indexed. Sitemap protocol is a standard maintained by sitemaps.org and supported by all major search engines.

Validation checks the XML structure for spec compliance: correct namespace, required elements (<urlset> root, <url> entries, <loc> for each URL), and limits (max 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file; sitemap index files combine multiple sitemaps). Malformed sitemaps are silently ignored by crawlers, which is worse than no sitemap because the issue is invisible.

This validator parses your sitemap, checks structure, validates URL format, and surfaces any issues. It also runs sanity checks: are URLs absolute? Are they HTTPS where the domain serves HTTPS? Do the dates follow ISO 8601?

Why Validate Sitemaps

Catching sitemap errors early prevents weeks of search engines silently ignoring your file. Submission via Google Search Console reports parse errors, but only after submission and a delay. Validating locally surfaces the issues immediately.

Large sitemaps also benefit from sanity-checking. URL counts, duplicate detection, and HTTPS consistency are easy to miss in a file with thousands of entries. A validator that surfaces these issues prevents subtle long-term SEO problems.

How to Validate a Sitemap

Paste sitemap or URL, get the validation report.

Provide the sitemap: Paste XML content directly or provide a URL to fetch (the validator handles common cases like sitemap.xml at site root).
Validate structure: The tool parses the XML, checks required elements, and validates namespace declarations.
Check URL format: Each <loc> URL is checked for absolute format, HTTPS consistency, and well-formed-ness. Common issues like relative URLs or http: in https: site URLs surface here.
Review the report: Issues are categorized by severity. Errors (file won't be processed) come first; warnings (file works but has issues) follow. Fix and re-validate.

Common Use Cases

Pre-submission validation — Validating before submitting to Google Search Console catches errors that would otherwise sit unprocessed.
Auditing automated sitemap generators — CMS-generated sitemaps occasionally produce malformed output. Periodic validation confirms the generator is working correctly.
Migrating to a new site structure — After site reorganization, sitemaps may have stale URLs or wrong paths. Validation surfaces issues.
Validating sitemap index files — Large sites use sitemap index files referencing multiple sub-sitemaps. Each link needs to be valid and reachable.
Confirming HTTPS migration — Sitemaps still containing http: URLs after HTTPS migration are a common issue. The validator flags inconsistencies.

Technical Details

Sitemap protocol: <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"> as root, with <url> children each containing <loc> (required), <lastmod>, <changefreq>, <priority>. All URLs must be absolute.

Limits: 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file. Larger sites use sitemap index files (<sitemapindex>) referencing multiple sitemaps. Indexes can themselves chain.

Date format: ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD or full datetime with timezone). changefreq values: always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never. priority: 0.0 to 1.0 (default 0.5). Most modern crawlers ignore changefreq and priority.

Best Practices

Use absolute URLs — Sitemaps require absolute URLs (https://example.com/page). Relative URLs are invalid even though some parsers accept them silently.
Match HTTPS to your site — If your site is HTTPS, all sitemap URLs should use https:. Mixed http and https URLs cause crawl issues.
Submit to Search Console — Google reads /sitemap.xml automatically if referenced in robots.txt, but submitting via Search Console produces explicit reports of issues and indexing status.
Keep within size limits — 50,000 URLs per file. For larger sites, split into multiple sitemaps and link via a sitemap index.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should my sitemap live?: Conventionally at /sitemap.xml. Reference it from robots.txt with a Sitemap directive, and submit via Google Search Console for explicit tracking.
What's the maximum size?: 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file. Beyond that, split into multiple sitemaps and link via a sitemap index.
Are changefreq and priority used?: Most modern crawlers ignore them in favor of empirical data. Setting them does not hurt; just don't expect them to drive crawl behavior.
What date format should lastmod use?: ISO 8601: YYYY-MM-DD or full datetime with timezone (2024-01-15T12:00:00+00:00). Other formats are invalid.
Should I include all URLs?: No. Include canonical URLs you want indexed. Excluded should be: redirected URLs, non-canonical duplicates, paths that should not be indexed.
How often should sitemaps be regenerated?: When content changes. Static sites: rebuild on each deploy. Frequently-updated sites: nightly or on each content change.
Is my sitemap uploaded?: Validation happens in your browser. URL fetching may use a public proxy if cross-origin restrictions apply.
What about image and video sitemaps?: Sitemap protocol supports extensions for images, videos, and news. The validator handles standard sitemap; extensions can be added if needed.

XML Sitemap Validator

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