Free XML Sitemap Generator

Your Guide to a Perfect XML Sitemap

An XML (eXtensible Markup Language) sitemap is a powerful tool in your SEO arsenal. It acts as a direct roadmap of your website that you submit to search engines like Google and Bing. This file lists all the important pages you want them to crawl and index. While a sitemap won't automatically grant you the top ranking, it is a foundational piece of technical SEO that dramatically improves how efficiently search engines can find and understand your content. This is especially vital for large sites, new websites with few external links, or any site with a complex page structure.

Why Manual Control is a Game-Changer for SEO

Most online sitemap generators crawl your website just like a search engine. While fast, this automated method often creates SEO problems. By giving you full manual control, our tool helps you avoid common pitfalls and build a truly optimized sitemap.

• Ensure Every Important Page is Found: Automated crawlers can easily miss pages that aren't well-linked internally (known as "orphan pages"). With our manual tool, you guarantee every valuable page makes it onto the list.
• Exclude Unwanted URLs: Crawlers blindly include every page they find, including thank-you pages, internal search results, and non-canonical URLs. This creates a "bloated" sitemap and sends confusing signals to Google.
• Optimize Your Crawl Budget: By only including your most important, high-quality pages, you guide search engines to focus their limited resources (crawl budget) on the content that actually matters for ranking.
• Gain Total Control Over Parameters: You decide the priority and change frequency for each URL individually, giving you granular control over the signals you send to search engines.

How to Use Our XML Sitemap Generator

Creating your sitemap is a simple, six-step process designed for clarity and precision.

1. Gather Your Important URLs: Collect the canonical URLs of all pages you want search engines to discover and index. Include your most important pages and any 'orphan pages' not linked from elsewhere on your site.
2. Add URLs to the Generator: Paste your URLs into the input fields one by one using the "+ Add URL" button, or use "Import From List" to paste a bulk list of URLs.
3. Set Optional SEO Parameters: For each URL, you can optionally suggest a 'Change Frequency' and a 'Priority'. The default settings are safe for most websites.
4. Generate and Review the Sitemap: The XML code is generated instantly in the output box. Quickly review the code to ensure all your URLs are listed correctly.
5. Copy or Download Your File: Click "Copy to Clipboard" to paste the code into your own file, or click "Download sitemap.xml" to get a ready-to-use file.
6. Upload and Submit to Google: Upload the sitemap.xml file to your website's root directory. Finally, submit its location (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) in Google Search Console.

Understanding XML Sitemap Tags

Our generator uses the standard sitemap protocol, which includes several key tags:

• <urlset>: The main container for the entire sitemap. It's the first and last tag in the file.
• <url>: The parent tag for each individual URL entry. Every page you list will be wrapped in this tag.
• <loc>: This stands for location. It contains the full, absolute URL of the page. This is the only mandatory tag within a <url> block.
• <changefreq>: An optional tag that hints to search engines how often a page's content is likely to change (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly).
• <priority>: An optional tag (from 0.0 to 1.0) that tells search engines how important a specific URL is relative to other pages on your own site.

Note: While Google has stated they pay less attention to changefreq and priority than they used to, these tags are still part of the official standard and can provide helpful context to search engines.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is the main difference between an XML and HTML sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a technical file written for search engines to help them efficiently find and understand your site's structure. An HTML sitemap is a visible page designed to help human visitors navigate your website. For effective SEO, an XML sitemap is essential.

Q2: Why use a manual sitemap generator instead of a crawler?

A manual generator gives you complete control. You can ensure important 'orphan pages' are included and exclude low-value pages (like thank-you pages or internal search results) that crawlers often pick up. This helps you optimize your crawl budget and send clear signals to search engines about what content truly matters.

Q3: Does a sitemap guarantee Google will index my pages?

No, a sitemap is a strong recommendation, not a guarantee. Indexing depends on many factors like content quality and site authority. However, a sitemap dramatically increases the chance that search engines will discover, crawl, and ultimately index your important pages.

Q4: Should I include "noindexed" pages in my XML sitemap?

No, never. Your sitemap is a list of pages you want indexed. Including pages marked with a 'noindex' tag sends conflicting signals to search engines and can waste crawl budget. Only include indexable, canonical URLs.

Q5: What is the maximum size for a sitemap file?

A single XML sitemap file is limited to 50,000 URLs and a file size of 50MB (uncompressed). For larger sites, you must create multiple sitemap files and list them in a sitemap index file.