How big can a sitemap be?

Google accepts sitemaps up to 50MB (uncompressed) or 50,000 URLs per file. Above that: use a sitemap index pointing to multiple per-section sitemaps (each up to 50K URLs). The index file is itself a sitemap.xml that contains entries pointing to other sitemap files. Major sites (Wikipedia, news sites) use hundreds of sitemap files in this pattern.

Does priority matter?

Largely no, since 2017. Google publicly stated they ignore the priority field in sitemaps. Bing still considers it loosely. Set realistic priorities (homepage 1.0, category pages 0.8, posts 0.6) but don't expect dramatic ranking effects. Focus on accurate lastmod and including only high-value canonical URLs.

What should I exclude?

Pages with noindex meta tag (sitemap inclusion contradicts noindex), search result pages, paginated archives (page 2+), login / signup / checkout flow pages, admin pages, duplicate content with parameter variations, thin pages without unique content. Include: all canonical content pages, important category and tag pages, key landing pages.

How often should I regenerate?

When content changes meaningfully. Static sites: regenerate on each build automatically. Dynamic sites: daily for active sites, weekly for slower-updating sites. Don't regenerate hourly unless you genuinely add content hourly — Google ignores too-frequent lastmod updates as suspicious.

How do I submit to search engines?

Google: Search Console → Sitemaps → enter URL of sitemap.xml. Bing: Webmaster Tools → Sitemaps → submit. Yandex / DuckDuckGo: get from Google's index automatically. Plus add to robots.txt: “Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml”. Belt-and-suspenders: explicit submission AND robots.txt entry.

What's a sitemap index?

A sitemap.xml file that contains references to other sitemap files (instead of URLs directly). Used when your site has more than 50K URLs or wants to organize sitemaps by content type. Format: same XML structure but uses elements (referencing other sitemap files) instead of elements. Submit only the index URL to Search Console; Google follows references to find the actual URL lists.

Developer Utilities · Free tool

XML Sitemap Generator

Create a sitemap.xml file online instantly from your list of URLs. Auto-sets lastmod today and applies priority with changefreq — free download, no signup needed.

Updated June 2026

URLs (one per line)

Default priority (0.7)Default change frequency

4 valid URLs detected. lastmod set to today.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-06-14</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/about</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-06-14</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/blog</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-06-14</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/contact</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-06-14</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

Save as /sitemap.xml at your site root and submit to Google Search Console + Bing Webmaster Tools. For sites with thousands of URLs, consider a sitemap index file pointing to multiple per-section sitemaps.

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What it does

A sitemap.xml file gives search engines a machine-readable list of pages on your site you want crawled and indexed. The format (defined by sitemaps.org and adopted by Google, Bing, Yandex) is XML-based: a list of <url> elements with location, last- modified date, change frequency hint, and priority score. Submitting sitemap.xml to Google Search Console accelerates discovery of new content (vs waiting for organic link-discovery), helps ensure no important pages are missed during crawling, and provides a single source of truth for your site's indexable URL inventory. For new sites, sitemaps are essential — without them, Google has to discover pages organically through internal links and backlinks, which is slow.

The generator takes a list of URLs (paste one per line, or export from your CMS), optional lastmod dates, default changefreq (always / hourly / daily / weekly / monthly / yearly / never), and default priority (0.0-1.0), then outputs valid sitemap.xml ready to upload to your site root and submit to search engines. Use cases: static sites without automatic sitemap generation, quick one-off sitemaps for small projects, legacy sites that don't have a sitemap, supplementary sitemaps (image sitemap, news sitemap, video sitemap with extended schemas).

Sitemap best practices: (1) Include only canonical URLs — no duplicates with different parameter variations (?utm=, ?ref=). (2) Skip noindex pages, paginated archives, search results, login pages — they shouldn't be in the sitemap if they shouldn't be indexed. (3) Set lastmod to actual modify dates, not arbitrary current dates. Google ignores fake-modified dates and may downgrade trust in your sitemap if it's obvious you're lying about freshness. (4) Priority is largely ignored by Google since 2017 — focus on accurate content rather than priority manipulation. (5) For large sites (over 50K URLs or 50MB), split into multiple sitemaps and reference from a sitemap index file. (6) Always include sitemap location in robots.txt: “Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/ sitemap.xml” — crawlers discover sitemaps this way without explicit submission. (7) Update sitemap when content materially changes; static sites should regenerate on each build.

Embed this tool on your siteShow snippet

Paste this snippet into any page. Loads on-demand (lazy), no tracking scripts, and sized to most dashboards. Replace the height to fit your layout.

<iframe src="https://freetoolarena.com/embed/xml-sitemap-generator" width="100%" height="720" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" title="XML Sitemap Generator" style="border:1px solid #e2e8f0;border-radius:12px;max-width:720px;"></iframe>

Embed docs →

How to use it

Paste your URL list (one URL per line, full URLs with https:// prefix).
Optionally set default lastmod date, changefreq, and priority.
Click Generate to produce valid sitemap.xml.
Download or copy the XML.
Save as /sitemap.xml at your site root.
Submit URL via Google Search Console > Sitemaps.
Add “Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml” line to robots.txt.

When to use this tool

Static sites without automatic sitemap-generation tooling.
Quick one-off sitemap for a small site (under 100 pages).
Adding a sitemap to a legacy site that lacks one.
Generating supplementary sitemaps for specific content types (images, videos, news).
Migrating sitemaps from one tool/format to another.

When not to use it

Modern CMS with built-in sitemap (WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Wix, Next.js with built-in sitemap support) — use the platform feature.
Massive sites (over 50K URLs) — needs sitemap index splitting beyond what basic tools handle.
Specialized sitemaps (image / video / news with extended XML schemas) requiring schema-aware generation.
Dynamic sites where URLs change daily — needs programmatic generation, not manual.

Common use cases

Onboarding a colleague who needs the same calculation/conversion
Verifying a number or output before passing it on
Quick generation during a typical workday
Pre-decision sanity-check on inputs and outputs

Frequently asked questions

How big can a sitemap be?: Google accepts sitemaps up to 50MB (uncompressed) or 50,000 URLs per file. Above that: use a sitemap index pointing to multiple per-section sitemaps (each up to 50K URLs). The index file is itself a sitemap.xml that contains <sitemap> entries pointing to other sitemap files. Major sites (Wikipedia, news sites) use hundreds of sitemap files in this pattern.
Does priority matter?: Largely no, since 2017. Google publicly stated they ignore the priority field in sitemaps. Bing still considers it loosely. Set realistic priorities (homepage 1.0, category pages 0.8, posts 0.6) but don't expect dramatic ranking effects. Focus on accurate lastmod and including only high-value canonical URLs.
What should I exclude?: Pages with noindex meta tag (sitemap inclusion contradicts noindex), search result pages, paginated archives (page 2+), login / signup / checkout flow pages, admin pages, duplicate content with parameter variations, thin pages without unique content. Include: all canonical content pages, important category and tag pages, key landing pages.
How often should I regenerate?: When content changes meaningfully. Static sites: regenerate on each build automatically. Dynamic sites: daily for active sites, weekly for slower-updating sites. Don't regenerate hourly unless you genuinely add content hourly — Google ignores too-frequent lastmod updates as suspicious.
How do I submit to search engines?: Google: Search Console → Sitemaps → enter URL of sitemap.xml. Bing: Webmaster Tools → Sitemaps → submit. Yandex / DuckDuckGo: get from Google's index automatically. Plus add to robots.txt: “Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml”. Belt-and-suspenders: explicit submission AND robots.txt entry.
What's a sitemap index?: A sitemap.xml file that contains references to other sitemap files (instead of URLs directly). Used when your site has more than 50K URLs or wants to organize sitemaps by content type. Format: same XML structure but uses <sitemap> elements (referencing other sitemap files) instead of <url> elements. Submit only the index URL to Search Console; Google follows references to find the actual URL lists.

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