How to use the sitemap xml generator
- Paste your page addresses, one per line, all from the same site. A date such as 2026-02-14 may follow an address.
- Optionally enter one date for addresses that have none, a change frequency and a priority.
- Read the summary, then copy the XML or download it as sitemap.xml.
- Upload the file to the root of your site and submit it to the search tools you use, or list it in robots.txt.
Formula
the file is a urlset element in the sitemap namespace, with one url element for each address
each url holds loc, and optionally lastmod, changefreq and priority
the characters & < > " ' in an address are written as & < > " '
a fragment after # is dropped, and an address that repeats is kept once
An address must start with http or https and every address must be on the same host as the first one. A date is written as 2026-03-01 or with a time.
Four addresses with one date
The sample lists https://example.com/, /about/, /blog/first-post/ with the date 2026-02-14, and /search?q=cats&page=2. The XML has four url elements, and the last address is written with & in place of the ampersand. Only the third url has a lastmod line.
If you enter 2026-03-01 as the date for addresses without one, the other three gain that date. The list https://example.org/a, https://example.org/a#top and https://Example.org/b gives two urls and reports one repeat, and the host is lower-cased to example.org.
What a sitemap is for
A sitemap is a list of the addresses you want search tools to know about, which helps them find pages that are not linked well. It does not guarantee that any page is indexed and it does not rank pages. Put only addresses that work, that you want found, and that are not blocked in robots.txt.
Write the robots.txt file with the Robots.txt Generator and test rules with the Robots.txt URL Tester. Review the response headers of your pages with the HTTP Security Headers Analyzer, and clean a long address list first with the URL List Cleaner.
Dates, frequency and priority
The date should be the last time the content of the page really changed. Change frequency and priority are only hints, and search tools may ignore them, so they are left out unless you choose them. One sitemap file can hold up to 50,000 addresses and 50 MB uncompressed, so a bigger site needs several files and a sitemap index.
Assumptions and limits
- Addresses are complete web addresses without a user name or password.
- All addresses are on one site, because a sitemap may only list pages of its own host.
- Up to 5,000 addresses are read here, and nothing is uploaded.
- The tool writes the file but does not check that the pages exist.
Frequently asked questions
Where should the file go?
Upload it to the top level of the site, as sitemap.xml, so it is found at an address such as https://example.com/sitemap.xml. A sitemap can only list addresses at or below its own folder.
Do I need changefreq and priority?
No. Both are optional, and search tools treat them as hints at most. Many sitemaps leave them out and keep only the address and the date.
Why was my address rejected?
It may start with something other than http or https, belong to a different host from the first line, or contain a user name. The message names the line and the reason.
Can the tool make a sitemap for images or videos?
No. It writes the standard address sitemap. Image, video and news sitemaps use extra tags that this tool does not offer.