What is an XML sitemap and why do I need one?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all important pages of your website to help search engines discover and index your content more efficiently. You need one because it ensures search engines can find all your pages, understand their relative importance and update frequency, and crawl your site more effectively. Sitemaps are especially crucial for new websites, sites with complex navigation, or pages that might be missed during normal crawling.

What are change frequency and priority settings?

Change frequency tells search engines how often a page's content is likely to change (always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or never). Priority indicates the relative importance of pages compared to other pages on your site (0.1 = lowest priority, 1.0 = highest priority). These settings help search engines optimize their crawling schedule and understand which pages are most important to your website.

How many URLs can I include in a single sitemap?

According to the sitemaps.org protocol, a single sitemap file can contain up to 50,000 URLs and must be under 50MB in size. If you have more URLs, you should create multiple sitemap files and a sitemap index file to reference them. The XML Sitemap Generator handles standard sitemap creation, but for very large websites, you may need to split your URLs into multiple sitemaps manually.

Where should I upload my sitemap.xml file?

Upload your sitemap.xml file to the root directory of your website (e.g., https://example.com/sitemap.xml). This is the standard location where search engines automatically look for sitemaps. After uploading, submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to ensure search engines discover and crawl your sitemap regularly.

How often should I update my sitemap?

Update your sitemap whenever you add new pages, remove existing pages, or make significant changes to your website structure. For dynamic websites with frequent content updates, consider automating sitemap generation and updates. For static websites, manual updates whenever content changes are usually sufficient. Regular sitemap updates help search engines discover new content quickly and avoid crawling non-existent pages.

What's the difference between priority and change frequency?

Priority indicates the relative importance of pages compared to other pages on your site (0.1 = lowest, 1.0 = highest) and helps search engines understand which pages are most valuable. Change frequency tells search engines how often content is likely to change (always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never) and helps optimize crawling schedules. Priority is about importance, while change frequency is about update frequency.

XML Sitemap Generator

Generate professional XML sitemaps from URL lists with proper formatting, priority settings, and update frequency configurations. Essential for new websites and improving crawlability with Google, Bing, and other search engines through automated sitemap creation and validation.

xml

sitemap

generator

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Example URL Sets

Load pre-configured URL structures for different website types

Sitemap Configuration

Set default values for your sitemap

Base URL

Default Change Frequency

Default Priority

Include Last Modified

1URL Management

Add and manage URLs for your sitemap

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