Sitemap.xml Validator
Validate sitemap.xml files against the sitemaps.org spec. Catches invalid URLs, oversized files, malformed dates, and the silent 50,000-URL limit.
About Sitemap.xml Validator
Validate sitemap.xml files against the sitemaps.org specification. Catches invalid<loc> URLs, malformed <lastmod> dates, out-of-range<priority> values, duplicate entries, and the silent 50,000-URL and 50 MB limits that cause Google to silently stop processing your sitemap.
Pipeline
- robots.txt Validator — check that your sitemap URL is referenced in robots.txt.
- Meta Tag Generator — generate SEO meta tags for the pages in your sitemap.
Frequently asked
- What are the hard limits for sitemap.xml?
- Per the sitemaps.org spec (and enforced by Google and Bing): maximum 50,000 URLs per file, maximum 50 MB uncompressed, and each <loc> URL must be under 2,048 bytes. If you exceed these limits, split the sitemap and reference the parts from a sitemap index file.
- What is a sitemap index?
- A sitemap index is a sitemap that lists other sitemaps instead of URLs. It uses <sitemapindex> as the root element and <sitemap> entries instead of <url> entries. This tool validates both formats.
- What is the W3C date format for <lastmod>?
- W3C date format is YYYY-MM-DD (e.g. 2026-05-01) or the full ISO 8601 datetime with timezone (e.g. 2026-05-01T12:00:00+00:00). Google accepts both. Avoid formats like "May 1, 2026" or "01/05/2026" — they are not valid and will be ignored.
- Does <priority> affect ranking?
- <priority> is a hint to crawlers about the relative importance of pages within your site. It does not directly affect ranking in search results. Google has stated it largely ignores priority. <changefreq> is similarly advisory. The most useful signal is <lastmod> — keep it accurate and Google will recrawl changed pages faster.
- Should I include every page in my sitemap?
- Include pages you want indexed. Exclude: pages with noindex meta tags, paginated pages (use canonical instead), duplicate content, admin/login pages, and pages blocked by robots.txt. A smaller, high-quality sitemap is better than a large one with low-value URLs.