Generate valid XML sitemaps for search engines. Add URLs manually, paste a list, or use bulk patterns. Download a ready-to-upload sitemap.xml file.
An XML sitemap is a file that tells search engines about the pages on your website that you want them to crawl and index. While search engines like Google can discover pages by following links, a sitemap ensures that all important pages are found — especially new pages, pages with few incoming links, and pages deep in your site's architecture. For any website serious about SEO, a sitemap is not optional; it's essential.
Google recommends sitemaps for sites with more than 500 pages, new sites with few external links, sites with rich media content, and sites that are not well internally linked. However, even small sites benefit from having a sitemap because it provides explicit signals about page priority and update frequency, helping search engines allocate their crawl budget more efficiently.
A valid XML sitemap follows the Sitemap Protocol (sitemaps.org). Each URL entry can include four optional tags: <loc> (the URL itself — required), <lastmod> (last modification date), <changefreq> (how often the page changes), and <priority> (relative importance from 0.0 to 1.0). While Google has stated that it primarily uses <loc> and <lastmod>, providing all tags creates a more complete picture of your site structure.
After generating your sitemap, upload it to the root of your domain (e.g., https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml), reference it in your robots.txt file, and submit it through Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Monitor the Index Coverage report in Search Console to ensure all submitted URLs are being indexed as expected.
A single sitemap file can contain up to 50,000 URLs and must not exceed 50MB (uncompressed). For larger sites, create a sitemap index file that references multiple sitemap files. You can also gzip compress your sitemaps to reduce file size and bandwidth.
Google has stated that it "does not currently use the priority signal in sitemaps." However, it's still good practice to include it as other search engines may use it, and it helps document your site's structure for your own reference. Focus more on accurate lastmod dates, which Google does use.