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Sitemap.xml Checker

Check if your sitemap is accessible, contains valid URLs, and has no errors

Check Results

This only checks sitemap.xml. For a comprehensive analysis, use the full page check.

You can also audit your entire site. Duplicate titles and descriptions, orphan pages, broken links between sections, and other site-wide issues can only be found with a full site audit.

If you don't have an SEO specialist, we can help fix the errors found.

Full Page Check Full Site Audit Fix Errors

What Is sitemap.xml and Why It Matters

Sitemap.xml is an XML file that contains a list of all site pages intended for indexing. Google uses the sitemap to discover and index all important pages faster.

What This Tool Checks

  • File presence — looks for sitemap at the path from robots.txt or at /sitemap.xml
  • XML validity — checks that the file is a valid XML document
  • Contents — counts the number of URLs in the sitemap
  • Foreign domains — checks that all URLs belong to your site
  • Protocol — checks that URLs use HTTPS (if the site runs on HTTPS)
  • Sitemap Index — if the sitemap contains nested files, checks their accessibility

What sitemap.xml Should Look Like

Minimum correct sitemap.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url><loc>https://example.com/</loc></url>
</urlset>

Common sitemap.xml Mistakes

  • File missing — harder for search engines to discover all pages
  • Sitemap path not specified in robots.txt — search engine may not find the sitemap
  • HTTP URLs on an HTTPS site — search engine sees them as different pages
  • Foreign domain URLs — sitemap should only contain pages from your site
  • Invalid XML — search engine can't read the file

Frequently Asked Questions

Is sitemap.xml required? ▶
Not formally — search engines can find pages through links. But for large sites and new pages, a sitemap significantly speeds up indexing. Google recommends having one.
What is a Sitemap Index? ▶
A Sitemap Index is a map of maps. Instead of page URLs, it contains links to other sitemap files. Used on large sites where the URL count exceeds the single file limit (50,000 URLs).
How often should the sitemap be updated? ▶
Whenever pages are added or removed. Most CMS platforms (WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Joomla) update the sitemap automatically. If you manage the file manually, update it with every site structure change.

Other Checks

Indexing Check
robots.txt Check
sitemap.xml Check
SSL Certificate Check
HTTP/HTTPS Check
www Redirect Check
Title Tag Check
Meta Description Check
Headings Check
Canonical Check
Viewport Check
Open Graph Check
Encoding Check
Image Format Check
Alt Tags Check
Lazy Loading Check
Internal Links Check
External Links Check
Broken Links Check
Structured Data Check
Compression Check
HTML Size Check
Render-blocking JS Check
Mixed Content Check
HSTS Check
URL Structure Check