Sitemap Validator
Deep validation of your XML sitemap. Schema, URL count, lastmod, sample URL tests, sub-sitemap consistency. ~10 seconds.
What We Check
Every check comes with a pass/fail result and specific fix instructions.
Sitemap Accessible
Sitemap must be reachable at /sitemap.xml with HTTP 200. Anything else means Google can
Content-Type XML
Server must return Content-Type: application/xml or text/xml. HTML content-type confuses crawlers.
UTF-8 Encoding
<?xml version=
Valid XML
Sitemap must be parseable XML. Malformed XML breaks sitemap discovery entirely.
File Size OK
Single sitemap file must be under 50 MB uncompressed. Larger files should be split or gzip-compressed.
Sitemap Index
Sitemap index lets you reference up to 50,000 sub-sitemaps. Required for large sites with > 50K URLs.
Sub-Sitemaps Load
Each sub-sitemap referenced in the index must return HTTP 200 and be valid XML.
URL Count
Each individual sitemap file must have ≤ 50,000 URLs. More requires splitting via sitemap index.
Robots.txt Reference
robots.txt should reference your sitemap with: Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml — speeds up discovery.
Absolute URLs
All URLs in sitemap must be absolute (https://example.com/page) — Google
Same Domain
Sitemap should only contain URLs from the same domain. Cross-domain entries are rejected by Google.
HTTPS Only
If your site is HTTPS, sitemap URLs must also be HTTPS. Mixed protocols cause indexing inconsistencies.
No Tracking Params
URLs with ?utm_, ?fbclid, ?gclid create duplicate content issues. Remove them from sitemap.
No Fragments
URLs with # fragments are ignored by Google. Don
Sample URLs 200
Random sample of URLs must all return HTTP 200. Dead URLs erode Google
No Noindex on Samples
URLs in sitemap shouldn
Self-Canonical Samples
Each URL should canonical to itself. If it canonicals elsewhere, why submit it?
No Priority/Changefreq
and tags are IGNORED by Google since 2017. Remove to reduce file size.
Has Lastmod Tags
tags help Google know when to re-crawl. Without them, Google guesses crawl frequency.
Why It Matters
Numbers that make a difference for your website.
Checks
Deep sitemap validation
Test
Real URL verification
Support
Sub-sitemap detection
Valid
XML spec compliance
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this tool and how to use the results.
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