XML Sitemap Generator

TL;DR: An XML sitemap tells search engines which pages exist on your site. Without one, Google might miss important pages, especially on new or large websites. This free sitemap generator lets you create an XML sitemap in seconds, either by entering URLs manually or crawling your site automatically.

What Is an XML Sitemap and Why Does It Matter?

Search engines discover your pages by following links. But what if a page has few internal links? Or you just launched a new site? Or you have thousands of pages in a complex structure? That's where XML sitemaps come in.

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the URLs you want search engines to index. Think of it as a roadmap for Googlebot. Instead of hoping the crawler finds everything, you hand over a complete list. Google recommends sitemaps for sites with more than 500 pages, new sites with few external links, and sites using rich media.

A sitemap doesn't guarantee indexing. But it does guarantee discovery. And discovery is the first step to SEO indexing.

How to Use This Sitemap Builder

This XML sitemap generator gives you two ways to create your sitemap:

Option 1: Enter URLs Manually

1. Paste your list of URLs (one per line) into the text area.
2. Set optional attributes: priority, change frequency, last modified date.
3. Click "Generate Sitemap" to create your XML file.
4. Download the file and upload it to your website's root directory.

Best for: Small sites, specific page collections, or when you have an existing URL list from a spreadsheet or crawl report.

Option 2: Crawl Your Website Automatically

1. Enter your website's homepage URL.
2. Set the crawl limit (how many pages to discover).
3. Click "Start Crawl" and wait for the website crawl to complete.
4. Review the discovered URLs and remove any you don't want included.
5. Generate and download your sitemap.

Best for: Sites where you're not sure which pages exist, or when you want to discover all crawlable URLs automatically.

XML Sitemap Format Explained

Every XML sitemap follows the same structure defined by the sitemaps.org protocol. Here's what each element means:

Honest truth: Google largely ignores changefreq and priority. They're part of the protocol, but Google has said they don't use these hints. Focus on accurate lastmod dates instead. Google does pay attention to when pages actually change.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-02-01</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/about/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-01-15</lastmod>
  </url>
</urlset>

How to Submit Your Sitemap to Google Search Console

Creating a sitemap is step one. Submitting it to Google Search Console is step two. Here's how:

1. Upload your sitemap to your website's root directory (example.com/sitemap.xml).
2. Open Google Search Console and select your property.
3. Go to Sitemaps in the left sidebar (under Indexing).
4. Enter your sitemap URL (just "sitemap.xml" if it's in the root).
5. Click Submit and wait for Google to process it.

After submission, Google Search Console shows you:

• Discovered URLs — How many URLs Google found in your sitemap
• Indexed URLs — How many of those URLs are actually in Google's index
• Errors — Any problems with specific URLs or the sitemap itself

Check back in a few days. If "Discovered" is much higher than "Indexed," you may have content quality or crawlability issues to investigate. See our guide on fixing "Discovered - currently not indexed" issues for a complete troubleshooting process.

Sitemap Best Practices for Better SEO Indexing

A sitemap can help or hurt your SEO depending on what you include. Follow these rules:

• Only include indexable URLs. Every URL in your sitemap should return a 200 status, have no noindex tag, and be the canonical version. Including blocked or redirected URLs wastes crawl budget and confuses Google.
• Keep it under 50MB and 50,000 URLs. That's Google's limit per sitemap file. For larger sites, use a sitemap index that points to multiple sitemap files.
• Use accurate lastmod dates. Only update lastmod when the page content actually changes. Fake dates to trigger recrawling doesn't work and can hurt trust.
• Match your canonical URLs. If your canonical is https://example.com/page/, don't list https://example.com/page (without trailing slash) in your sitemap.
• Reference it in robots.txt. Add Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml to your robots.txt file so any crawler can find it.

How to Add a Sitemap to WordPress

WordPress sites have several options for automatic sitemap generation:

If you're using an SEO plugin, check your sitemap settings there first. Most plugins automatically exclude noindex pages, paginated archives, and other URLs that shouldn't be in your sitemap. For complete control, generate a custom sitemap with this tool and upload it to your WordPress root directory via FTP or your hosting file manager.

Sitemap Troubleshooting: Common Errors and Fixes

Google Search Console flags sitemap issues. Here's how to fix the most common ones:

Frequently Asked Questions

Generate Your Sitemap Now

A properly configured XML sitemap is one of the simplest SEO wins. It takes minutes to create and can significantly improve how search engines discover and index your content.

Use the sitemap builder above to generate your XML sitemap, then submit it to Google Search Console. Check back in a week to see how many URLs Google has discovered and indexed.

Related Free SEO Tools

Your sitemap works together with other technical SEO elements:

• Robots.txt Generator — Create a robots.txt file and reference your sitemap in it for automatic discovery.
• Bulk HTTP Status Checker — Verify all URLs in your sitemap return 200 status codes before submitting.
• On-Page SEO Analyzer — Check that pages in your sitemap have proper meta tags and no noindex directives.