About the XML Sitemap Generator
This XML sitemap generator converts a plain list of page URLs into a sitemap file that follows the sitemaps.org protocol used by Google, Bing and other search engines. Paste one URL per line, choose whether to add a last-modified date, a change frequency and a priority, and copy the finished XML into a file called sitemap.xml at the root of your site.
It is handy for small static sites, landing pages, new launches and any site whose CMS does not build a sitemap automatically. Relative paths such as /contact are joined to your site address, duplicate URLs are removed, fragments (#section) are stripped, and characters such as & in query strings are escaped as the protocol requires. You can give an individual page its own date by adding it after the URL, for example “https://example.com/post 2026-09-15”.
Everything runs in your browser — no URLs are sent anywhere. A single sitemap may hold up to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed; larger sites should split into several sitemaps and list them in a sitemap index.
How to use the xml sitemap generator
- 1Paste your page URLs, one per line; add a date after a URL to give it its own lastmod.
- 2Enter your site address if you used relative paths like /contact.
- 3Choose a default lastmod date, change frequency and priority — or leave them out.
- 4Copy the generated XML and save it as sitemap.xml in your site’s root folder.
- 5Reference it in robots.txt and submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Formula and method
Each line is trimmed and checked: it must be an absolute http or https URL, or a path beginning with / that is joined to the site address. URLs are normalised with the browser’s URL parser (which lowercases the host and percent-encodes unsafe characters), fragments are removed, and exact duplicates are dropped after normalisation.
Every URL becomes a <url> entry with a required <loc> and optional <lastmod> in W3C date format, <changefreq> and <priority>. Entity escaping replaces &, <, >, apostrophes and quotes as the sitemaps.org protocol requires. Auto priority gives the home page 1.0, top-level pages 0.8, second-level pages 0.6 and deeper pages 0.5.
- loc
- Full URL of the page (required, under 2,048 characters)
- lastmod
- Date the page content last changed (YYYY-MM-DD)
- changefreq
- Hint of how often the page changes
- priority
- Relative importance within your site, 0.0 to 1.0
Worked examples
Six-line list with a relative path and a query string
Six lines produce six entries. “/contact” is joined to https://example.com, the blog post keeps its own 2026-09-15 date while the rest use 2026-09-29, and the & in the search URL is escaped as &. Auto priority gives the home page 1.0, top-level pages 0.8 and the blog post 0.6.
Minimal sitemap with duplicates and a bad line
The bare domain and the domain with a trailing slash normalise to the same URL, so one is removed as a duplicate. “www.shop.example.org/cart” has no http(s):// scheme and is skipped, and the #reviews fragment is stripped. With all optional tags off, each entry contains only <loc>.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an XML sitemap?+
Search engines can find most pages by following links, but a sitemap helps them discover new, deep or poorly linked pages faster. Google says sitemaps are most useful for large sites, new sites with few external links and sites with lots of rich media.
Does Google use changefreq and priority?+
Google has said it ignores the changefreq and priority values and uses lastmod only when it is consistently accurate. They are still valid under the sitemaps.org protocol and some other search engines may read them, so including them is harmless.
Where should I put sitemap.xml?+
Upload it to the root of your site, for example https://example.com/sitemap.xml, so it can cover every URL on that host. Then add a “Sitemap:” line to robots.txt and submit the URL in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
How many URLs can a sitemap contain?+
The protocol allows up to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per sitemap file. Bigger sites split their URLs into several sitemaps and list them in a sitemap index file, which can itself reference up to 50,000 sitemaps.
Which URLs should I include?+
Include only canonical, indexable pages that return a 200 status — the versions you want to appear in search. Leave out redirects, error pages, duplicates, pages blocked by robots.txt and pages marked noindex.