XML Sitemap Checker

An XML sitemap is the list of pages you want search engines to find. This checker finds a website’s sitemap automatically, through robots.txt or the usual locations, loads it, counts its URLs or child sitemaps, shows the latest update date and points out errors that stop search engines from reading it.

What an XML sitemap does

Search engines find pages by following links. On a new site, a large site, or a site with pages that few other pages link to, some content can stay undiscovered for a long time. A sitemap fixes that by handing search engines a complete list of the pages you care about, with the date each one last changed.

A sitemap does not force Google to index a page or rank it. It makes discovery faster and more complete, which matters most for new sites and for sites that publish often.

There are two kinds of sitemap file:

• URL sitemap (urlset): a list of page addresses, up to 50,000 per file.
• Sitemap index (sitemapindex): a list of other sitemaps. WordPress SEO plugins usually create an index with one child sitemap for posts, one for pages, one for categories, and so on.

How to use the checker

1. Type a domain like example.com, or paste the full address of a sitemap file if you know it.

2. Press Check sitemap. The tool first reads robots.txt for Sitemap lines. If there are none, it tries /sitemap.xml, /sitemap_index.xml and /wp-sitemap.xml.

3. Read the verdict. Sitemap found, or no working sitemap found, with where the tool looked.

4. Check each file. You see the HTTP code, the type, the number of entries and the latest update date, plus the first entries in the file.

Reading the results

Where WordPress keeps its sitemap

• WordPress core (no SEO plugin): /wp-sitemap.xml, built in since WordPress 5.5.
• Yoast SEO: /sitemap_index.xml. Yoast turns off the core sitemap.
• Rank Math: /sitemap_index.xml.
• All in One SEO: /sitemap.xml.

Whatever you use, add a Sitemap line to robots.txt so every search engine finds it. The Robots.txt Generator adds it for you.

Common sitemap problems and fixes

“Not valid XML” or a blank page

The most frequent cause is something printing output before the XML starts: a blank line at the top of functions.php, a PHP warning, or a plugin conflict. Turn off error display on the live site, check recently added code, and test again. Caching plugins can also serve an old broken copy, so clear the cache.

Sitemap works in the browser but Google says “couldn’t fetch”

A security plugin, firewall or Cloudflare rule may be blocking bots. Make sure search engine crawlers are allowed to load the sitemap address. Also check the file is not blocked in robots.txt.

URLs in the sitemap redirect or return 404

A sitemap should list only final, working, indexable URLs. Redirected, deleted or noindex pages in the sitemap send mixed signals. Most SEO plugins handle this automatically; if you see old URLs, regenerate the sitemap and check the Redirect Checker for the addresses.

Wrong domain in the sitemap

After moving from http to https or changing domain, sitemaps sometimes still list the old addresses. Update the WordPress Address and Site Address in Settings, then clear caches.

Thousands of thin pages

Tag archives, author pages and attachment pages can bloat a sitemap with low value URLs. Turn those off in your SEO plugin’s sitemap settings so search engines focus on your real content.

How to submit your sitemap to Google

1. Open Google Search Console and select your property. If you have not added your site yet, verify it first, usually with a TXT record that you can confirm with the DNS Checker.

2. Go to Sitemaps in the left menu.

3. Enter the sitemap address, for example sitemap_index.xml, and press Submit.

4. Come back after a few days. The status should show Success and the number of discovered URLs.

For Bing, submit the same address in Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing also supports IndexNow, which lets your site notify it instantly when pages change.

Sitemap best practices

• Include only pages you want indexed: published, canonical, not noindex.
• Keep each file under 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed. Use an index for more.
• Use accurate lastmod dates. Changing the date without changing the page teaches search engines to ignore it.
• Use the same version of every URL that your site uses: https, with or without www, consistent trailing slashes.
• Keep the sitemap reachable for bots, and list it in robots.txt.

Understanding lastmod, priority and changefreq

A sitemap entry can include a few extra fields. Only one of them still matters much:

So focus on correct lastmod dates. If your theme or plugin updates every lastmod on every page whenever anything changes, search engines learn that the dates mean nothing. Good SEO plugins set lastmod only when the page itself is edited.

Reading a sitemap like an SEO

A quick look at a competitor’s or your own sitemap tells you a lot:

• The number of URLs shows how big the site really is. If Search Console reports far fewer indexed pages than your sitemap lists, many pages may be thin, duplicate or blocked.
• The latest lastmod shows how recently the site published or updated content.
• The child sitemaps reveal the structure: posts, pages, products, categories, authors, maybe custom post types such as tools or recipes.
• The URL patterns show the permalink style and whether the site uses categories in URLs.

For your own site, compare the sitemap count with the “Pages” report in Search Console every month. A growing gap is an early warning sign worth investigating.

News, image and video sitemaps

Besides normal sitemaps, there are special formats. News sitemaps list articles from the last two days for sites in Google News. Image and video sitemaps add details about media files so they show in image and video search. Most blogs and business sites do not need separate files, because SEO plugins add image information to the normal sitemaps.

Do small sites need a sitemap?

If your site has a few pages that all link to each other, Google will find them anyway. A sitemap still helps by telling Google when pages change, and it costs nothing because WordPress and SEO plugins create it automatically. For new sites, adding the sitemap to Search Console is one of the fastest ways to get the first pages discovered.

A monthly sitemap health routine

1. Run your domain through this checker and confirm every child sitemap returns 200.

2. Open Search Console, Sitemaps, and check that the status is Success with no new errors.

3. Compare submitted URLs with indexed pages in the Pages report.

4. Spot check three URLs from the sitemap with the Website Status Checker to confirm they load with 200.

5. Remove or noindex pages that do not deserve to be in search, so the sitemap stays a list of your best pages.

Frequently asked questions