How to use
- 1Enter a domain or a direct sitemap URL.
- 2We look for /sitemap.xml and Sitemap lines in robots.txt; sitemap indexes are expanded (up to 10 child sitemaps).
- 3Review URL count, lastmod range and warnings.
- 4Optionally check the HTTP status of the first 45 URLs.
What a good sitemap contains
Only canonical, indexable URLs that return 200: no redirects, no 404s, no noindex pages, no URLs blocked by robots.txt. Each sitemap may contain at most 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed; larger sites split into several sitemaps listed in a sitemap index. Google ignores <priority> and <changefreq>, but uses <lastmod> when it is consistently accurate — so only update it when the content actually changes.
What this checker flags
Duplicate URLs, http:// URLs on an https site, URLs on a different host than the sitemap (only allowed with cross-site verification), URLs with query strings (often faceted or tracking parameters that shouldn’t be listed), and the oldest and newest lastmod dates. The first 200 URLs are listed in a table, and the optional status check reveals redirecting or broken entries.
Getting your sitemap found
Add a “Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml” line to robots.txt (any search engine reads it) and submit the sitemap in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Search Console’s Pages report then shows how many submitted URLs are indexed — a large gap points to quality or duplication issues.
Frequently asked questions
Does every website need a sitemap?
Small, well-linked sites can be crawled without one, but a sitemap helps new, large or poorly linked sites and is cheap to have. Most CMSs generate one automatically.
Where is my sitemap located?
Commonly /sitemap.xml, /sitemap_index.xml (Yoast) or /wp-sitemap.xml (WordPress core). Check the Sitemap line in your robots.txt.
Should redirected URLs be in the sitemap?
No. List only the final 200 URLs. Redirects and 404s in a sitemap send mixed signals and waste crawl budget.
Does a sitemap guarantee indexing?
No. It helps discovery; Google still decides whether each page is worth indexing.
Not happy with the results?
Talk to Webin Agency about fast, SEO-friendly websites, e-commerce and Google Ads management.