Overview
Build a sitemap.xml by listing URLs with priority, change frequency, and a last-modified date, and download the finished file. The XML is assembled live against the sitemaps.org 0.9 schema so it can be submitted to search engines as-is.
How It Works
Start from the three sample entries or edit them directly. For each URL row, set the address, pick a priority from the dropdown in steps of 0.1, choose one of the seven change-frequency values, and set the last-modified date with the date picker. Add as many rows as you need with the add button and remove rows you do not want. The XML preview shows the full document and a URL count, with copy and download buttons for sitemap.xml.
Step-by-Step Usage Guide
- Edit the sample rows or add a row per page you want indexed.
- Set each row's priority and change frequency to match its real update behavior.
- Pick accurate last-modified dates; this is the field search engines act on.
- Copy or download sitemap.xml and upload it to your site root, then submit it in search console.
Technical Specifications & Standards
The output is a urlset document in the sitemaps.org 0.9 namespace, which remains the format every major search engine accepts. Each entry emits loc, lastmod in W3C date form, changefreq, and priority. Two protocol facts are worth knowing before you spend effort on tuning. First, a single sitemap file may hold at most 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed; beyond that the protocol requires a sitemap index pointing at multiple files, which this tool does not generate. Second, Google has stated publicly that it ignores priority and changefreq; lastmod is the field it actually uses when the dates are accurate and consistent with content changes, so spend your effort on truthful lastmod values. The generator writes your URL text into loc without XML escaping, so an address containing an ampersand produces markup that is not well-formed XML; encode such URLs as %26 or avoid them. There is no URL validation and no cap enforcement, so a very large list is your responsibility to split.
Targeted Use Cases
- Producing a first sitemap.xml for a small static site.
- Hand-maintaining a sitemap for a site without a build pipeline.
- Refreshing lastmod dates after a content update so recrawling is prioritized.
- Generating per-section sitemaps to later combine in an index.
Notes & Gotchas
- Keep lastmod truthful and only bump it when content actually changed.
- Keep each file under 50,000 URLs and 50 MB; split into multiple files and use a sitemap index beyond that.
- Avoid ampersands and other XML-special characters in URLs, or encode them, since the tool does not escape them.
- Do not tune priority values expecting ranking effects; search engines that ignore them use lastmod instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does priority or changefreq affect ranking?
Google has stated that it ignores both fields. They are part of the sitemaps.org protocol, so other consumers may read them, but effort is better spent on accurate lastmod dates.
What happens above 50,000 URLs?
The protocol caps a single sitemap at 50,000 URLs or 50 MB uncompressed. This tool does not enforce or split the limit, so for larger sites generate multiple files and reference them from a sitemap index.
Why is my sitemap invalid when a URL contains an ampersand?
The loc element is written verbatim without XML escaping, so a raw ampersand breaks well-formedness. Percent-encode the ampersand in the URL or remove it before adding the row.
Which date format is used for lastmod?
The date picker produces a W3C date such as 2026-01-31, which the protocol accepts. Time-of-day precision is not set by this tool.