How to use the Sitemap Generator
- Enter your homepage URL and choose how many pages to crawl (up to 500).
- Click Generate sitemap. The XML builds up live as pages are crawled; press Stop to finish early with what has been found.
- Review the Excluded URLs table to make sure no important page was left out (e.g. by an accidental noindex).
- Download sitemap.xml, upload it to your site’s root, add a
Sitemap:line to robots.txt and submit it in Google Search Console.
What is an XML sitemap generator?
An XML sitemap is a file that lists the URLs you want search engines to crawl, in the format defined by the sitemaps.org protocol. A generator creates it for you by crawling your site the way a search engine does: starting at the homepage, following internal links, and recording each page it finds. It’s most useful for static sites, hand-built sites and older CMSs that don’t create a sitemap automatically.
Which pages are included
A sitemap should only contain URLs you actually want indexed, so this generator filters strictly:
| Page | In sitemap? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 200 OK HTML page, self-canonical or no canonical | Yes | A normal indexable page |
| URL that redirects | No — its destination is evaluated instead | Sitemaps should list final URLs |
| 4xx / 5xx or unreachable | No | Error pages can’t be indexed |
noindex (meta tag or X-Robots-Tag) | No | Contradicts the request to index |
| Canonical points to another URL | No | Only the canonical version belongs in the sitemap |
| Non-HTML file or a different host | No | Out of scope for a page sitemap |
lastmod, changefreq and priority
<lastmod> tells crawlers when a page last changed. Google uses it if it is consistently accurate, so this tool only adds it when your server sends a real Last-Modified header — it never invents today’s date. <changefreq> and <priority> are part of the protocol, but Google has confirmed it ignores both; enable them only if another consumer of your sitemap needs them. When enabled, priority is derived from URL depth (homepage 1.0, deeper pages lower).
After generating your sitemap
- Upload
sitemap.xmlto the root of your site, e.g.https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml. - Add
Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xmlto robots.txt (the Robots.txt Generator can do this). - Submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Check it with the Sitemap Validator and regenerate whenever you add or remove pages.
When you don’t need a generator
Webflow, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and WordPress (core since 5.5, or via SEO plugins) generate and update sitemaps automatically — a dynamic sitemap that updates itself is better than a static file you have to remember to regenerate. Use this tool for sites without one, or to compare what your CMS lists against what a crawler can actually reach. The crawl discovers pages through links only, so orphan pages won’t appear; the Website Crawler shows the full crawl data.
Tools that pair well with the Sitemap Generator
- SEO Checker & Site Audit — Paste a URL to run up to 70 on-page SEO checks in seconds.
- Meta Tag Checker — See exactly how Google is likely to display your page: title and description measured in pixels, desktop and mobile previews, and every meta tag in the <head>.
- Heading Checker — Visualise the heading outline of any page.
- Image Alt Checker — Audit every image on a page in one table: alt text status, file size, width/height attributes, format and lazy loading — with filters and CSV export.
Frequently asked questions
How many pages can the generator crawl?
Why is one of my pages missing from the sitemap?
Should I include changefreq and priority?
Where do I upload sitemap.xml?
https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml, then reference it in robots.txt and submit it in Google Search Console.