What is an XML sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists the important URLs on your site so search engines like Google and Bing can discover and index them efficiently. Each entry can include the URL plus optional last-modified date, change frequency, and priority hints.

Sitemaps help most sites, and they're especially valuable for large sites, new sites with few backlinks, sites with deep or poorly linked pages, and sites with lots of media. Small, well-linked sites can be crawled without one, but a sitemap rarely hurts and speeds up discovery.

Where do I put sitemap.xml?

Place the file in your site's root directory so it's reachable at https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Then reference it in your robots.txt with a 'Sitemap:' line and submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Do changefreq and priority actually matter?

Google has said it largely ignores changefreq and priority, treating them as hints at most. The URL and a reliable date are the parts search engines value. Include changefreq and priority if you like, but don't expect them to influence rankings.

How many URLs can a sitemap have?

A single sitemap is limited to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed. For larger sites, split URLs across multiple sitemap files and list them in a sitemap index file, which can itself reference up to 50,000 sitemaps.

Free Tools

XML sitemap generator

Paste your URLs and get a valid sitemap.xml instantly - with optional lastmod, changefreq, and priority. Runs entirely in your browser.

No signup requiredRuns in your browserCopy or download

Your URLs

Change frequency

Priority

Add today's date as <lastmod>

sitemap.xml

Paste URLs to generate your sitemap.xml...

Next steps

Save the file as sitemap.xml in your site root (so it's at /sitemap.xml).
Add Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml to your robots.txt.
Submit it in Google Search Console → Sitemaps, and in Bing Webmaster Tools.

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Quick answer: An XML sitemap is a file listing your site's important URLs so search engines like Google and Bing can discover and index them efficiently. This generator turns a pasted list of URLs into a valid sitemap.xml - with optional last-modified, change-frequency, and priority values - entirely in your browser, with nothing uploaded.

Sitemap XML tags explained

Tag	Required?	What it does
<loc>	Yes	The full, absolute URL of the page
<lastmod>	Optional	Last modified date (W3C / YYYY-MM-DD). Google does use this
<changefreq>	Optional	Hint of how often the page changes (largely ignored)
<priority>	Optional	Relative importance 0.0-1.0 (largely ignored)

Limits: one sitemap holds up to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed. Beyond that, split into multiple sitemaps and a sitemap index.

How to submit your sitemap to Google

Upload sitemap.xml to your site root so it loads at /sitemap.xml.
Add Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml to your robots.txt.
In Google Search Console, open Sitemaps, enter the URL, and submit. Repeat in Bing Webmaster Tools.

A note on this generator

This is a paste-your-URLs builder - it does not crawl your site. That's deliberate: it runs entirely in your browser, so it's instant, private, and free of rate limits. Export your URLs from your CMS, analytics, or a crawl tool, paste them here, and you'll get a clean, valid sitemap. If you'd rather have a sitemap that regenerates itself automatically, that's something a well-built site handles on every deploy.

Frequently asked questions

What is an XML sitemap?: A file listing your important URLs so search engines can discover and index them efficiently.
Do I need a sitemap?: Especially helpful for large, new, or deeply linked sites. It rarely hurts and speeds up discovery.
Where do I put it?: In your site root at /sitemap.xml, referenced from robots.txt and submitted in Search Console.
Do changefreq and priority matter?: Google largely ignores them. The URL and a reliable lastmod are what count.
How many URLs can a sitemap have?: Up to 50,000 URLs / 50 MB. Use a sitemap index for more.

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