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sitemap-xml-generator

A sitemap XML generator produces a sitemap.xml file that lists every URL you want search engines to know about, with optional <lastmod>, <changefreq>, and <priority> hints. The ZTools Sitemap XML Generator accepts either a manual URL list or a starting URL it will crawl, validates each URL's reachability, dedupes, and emits a sitemap.xml conformant to the sitemaps.org 0.9 protocol — automatically splitting into a sitemap index when the count exceeds 50,000 URLs (the per-file maximum). Submit the result to Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, and IndexNow for fast indexing.

Use cases​

Bootstrapping a sitemap for a new website​

A new domain has no sitemap. List your top 20-50 URLs (homepage, services, blog index, about, contact, key landing pages), generate, upload to /sitemap.xml, submit to GSC. Indexing typically begins within days.

Adding <lastmod> to an existing static-export sitemap​

Static-site generators sometimes omit <lastmod>. Re-generate with current dates so search engines know which pages are fresh — meaningful re-crawl signal.

Building a sitemap for a documentation site or knowledge base​

Crawl mode discovers every internal link from a starting URL, ideal for docs, help centers, or wiki structures where the URL list isn't obvious.

Splitting a giant sitemap into a sitemap index for compliance​

Sitemaps over 50,000 URLs or 50 MB are rejected by Google. The generator auto-splits into multiple sitemap files plus a sitemap-index.xml — submit only the index URL to GSC.

How it works​

  1. Choose input mode — Manual URL list (paste) or Crawl (provide a start URL; the tool follows internal links up to a configurable depth/page-cap).
  2. Configure per-URL hints — Set lastmod (auto-fill with today, or pull from HTTP Last-Modified headers when crawling), changefreq (always/hourly/daily/weekly/monthly/yearly/never), priority (0.0-1.0).
  3. Click Generate — URLs are validated (HTTP 200 only by default), deduped, sorted, and emitted as XML matching the sitemaps.org schema.
  4. Auto-split if needed — If the URL count exceeds 50,000 or the file would exceed 50 MB, the tool produces multiple sitemap files plus a sitemap-index.xml.
  5. Download and upload — Save sitemap.xml (and the index file if present) to your site root. Reference in robots.txt as Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml and submit via GSC.

Examples​

Input: List of 50 URLs with today's lastmod, weekly changefreq, priority 0.7

Output: sitemap.xml with 50 <url> entries, each containing <loc>, <lastmod>, <changefreq>, <priority> — ready to upload

Input: Crawl https://example.com depth 3, max 1000 pages

Output: sitemap.xml with all discovered internal HTML pages, lastmod from HTTP headers, ready for submission

Frequently asked questions​

Does Google use the <priority> and <changefreq> hints?

Mostly no. Google has stated that <changefreq> and <priority> are largely ignored in favor of their own crawl-frequency signals (page changes detected, link patterns). <lastmod> IS used — keep it accurate and update it when content actually changes.

How big can a sitemap be?

50,000 URLs OR 50 MB uncompressed (whichever first). Beyond that, use a sitemap-index referring to multiple sitemap files.

Should every URL be in the sitemap?

Only canonical, indexable URLs you want in search results. Skip noindex pages, redirects, error pages, and duplicates. A clean sitemap with 1,000 important URLs beats a dump with 100,000 mixed.

Should I include images and videos in the sitemap?

Optional but recommended for image-heavy sites. Use <image:image> and <video:video> extensions. Helps Google Images and Google Video discover media that might not be inferred from HTML.

How often should I regenerate the sitemap?

Whenever URLs are added, removed, or substantively changed. For high-frequency sites (news, e-commerce), automate as part of the build/publish pipeline. For static sites, weekly is a sensible floor.

Do I need to ping Google after updating the sitemap?

GSC has dropped sitemap-ping support; resubmit via the GSC interface or set up IndexNow for instant URL submission to Bing/Yandex.

Tips​

  • Always include <lastmod> — it's the signal Google actually uses; bump it only when content materially changes.
  • Reference your sitemap in robots.txt with an absolute URL.
  • Submit the sitemap to Google Search Console AND Bing Webmaster Tools — they index different things.
  • For large sites, use a sitemap-index file even when not strictly required — easier to add categories later.

Try it now​

The full sitemap-xml-generator runs in your browser at https://ztools.zaions.com/sitemap-xml-generator — no signup, no upload, no data leaves your device.

Open the tool ↗

Last updated: 2026-05-05 · Author: Ahsan Mahmood · Edit this page on GitHub