What an XML sitemap is
An XML sitemap is a structured list of the pages on your site that you want search engines to know about. It uses the sitemaps.org protocol: a root <urlset> element containing one <url> entry per page, each with a <loc> (the address) and optional hints about when it changed and how important it is. Submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools helps crawlers discover pages faster — especially new pages, deep pages with few internal links, and large sites where crawl budget matters.
A sitemap does not force indexing; it is a recommendation. But it removes the guesswork from discovery, and pairing it with a Sitemap: line in your robots.txt is one of the simplest, highest-value technical SEO steps you can take.
How to use this generator
- Paste your page URLs into the box, one per line. You can paste full URLs or relative paths.
- If you used relative paths, set the base URL so they resolve to absolute addresses (required by the protocol).
- Optionally choose a default changefreq, priority and lastmod applied to every entry.
- The valid
sitemap.xmlbuilds live on the right, with a running URL count. - Download the file, upload it to your site root (e.g.
/sitemap.xml), then submit that URL in Search Console.
About the optional fields
- loc — the only required field. Must be a full, absolute URL and properly escaped; this tool escapes
&,<,>,"and'for you. - lastmod — the date the page last changed, in
YYYY-MM-DDform. Google uses it as a weak freshness hint, so keep it honest. - changefreq — how often the page is likely to change. A hint only; Google largely relies on its own crawl signals.
- priority — relative importance from 0.0 to 1.0. It compares pages within your site, not against other sites, and has limited influence.
Limits to know
A single sitemap file may contain at most 50,000 URLs and must be no larger than 50 MB uncompressed. Larger sites split URLs across multiple sitemaps referenced by a sitemap index file. For most sites a single file is plenty.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I upload the sitemap?
Place it at your site root, typically https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml, then add Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml to robots.txt and submit the URL in Google Search Console.
Do I need lastmod, changefreq and priority?
No. Only loc is required. The others are optional hints — useful when accurate, ignored or distrusted when stale, so leave them out if you cannot keep them honest.
How often should I update it?
Regenerate whenever you add, remove or significantly change pages. Many sites automate this, but a manual refresh after each batch of changes is fine for small sites.
Is my list of URLs sent anywhere?
No. The sitemap is built in your browser with JavaScript and downloaded locally. Your URLs are never uploaded.