Sitemap Checker

About Sitemap checker

This tool fetches a sitemap.xml and validates it against the sitemap protocol. It counts URLs, checks that each address is absolute and on the same host, validates lastmod dates, and follows a sitemap index one level deep. Use it to catch the mistakes that make search engines ignore part of a sitemap.

How to use it

1. Enter a domain, or the full sitemap address, in the Domain or sitemap URL field.
2. Select Validate sitemap. The address is sent to our server, which downloads the file.
3. Check the headline badge: URL set or Sitemap index.
4. Read the details for status, URLs found, file size and any Child sitemaps.
5. Go through the issues and the URLs table, where each entry shows its lastmod and host status.

Mixed hosts and a bad date

A URL set for example.com with three entries: https://example.com/ (lastmod 2024-05-17), https://example.com/blog (lastmod May 17 2024) and https://cdn.example.net/x.

Three URLs found. Error: 1 URL is on a different host than the sitemap. Warning: 1 entry has an invalid lastmod, because W3C Datetime such as 2024-05-17 is required.

When to use it

• Verifying a generated sitemap before submitting it in a search console.
• Discovering that a plugin emits relative URLs or dates in the wrong format.
• Checking whether a large site needs splitting because it passed the 50,000 URL limit.
• Inspecting the first children of a sitemap index without opening each one manually.

Questions about Sitemap checker

What does it do with a bare domain?

It appends /sitemap.xml to the origin. If you enter a full path to another sitemap file, that exact address is used instead.

How deep does it follow a sitemap index?

One level only, and it fetches at most the first five child sitemaps. A nested index inside a child is noted but not followed. It never requests the URLs listed inside.

Which limits does it apply?

The protocol allows 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file. The tool downloads at most 5 MB of any file, and warns when a download was cut short.

Why are cross-host entries an error?

A sitemap may only list URLs on the host that serves it. Entries for another host are dropped by crawlers unless the sitemaps are cross-submitted.

How many URLs does the table show?

Up to 200 entries are returned for display, though the total count is always exact. The lastmod check accepts dates like 2024-05-17 and full timestamps with a timezone.

Related tools

• Robots.txt checkerFetch and parse a site's robots.txt to inspect crawler groups, rules and sitemap declarations.
• Meta Tags CheckerCheck meta tags on a webpage
• Password Strength CheckerCheck the strength of a password
• Safe URL CheckerCheck if a URL is safe to visit
• File MIME Type CheckerCheck the MIME type of a file
• Gravatar CheckerCheck if an email has a Gravatar