What is an XML sitemap generator?
An XML sitemap is a file that lists the pages you want search engines to know about. For a small site, it is the simplest way to say "these are my pages". This xml sitemap generator builds one from a list you provide.
The important point is that it does not crawl your website. You paste the URLs yourself, one per line, in the box. Any line that does not start with http is ignored. Then pick a Default Change Frequency, a Default Priority and a Last Modified date. Click Generate Sitemap and the XML appears with a URL count. Every URL gets the same three values.
That makes it a good fit for sites with a few dozen pages, landing page sets or static sites. For a large shop or blog with hundreds of changing URLs, a plugin or script that builds the sitemap from your database is a better choice. Also note that Google says it ignores the priority and changefreq values, so they are mostly useful for other consumers of the file.
How to create a sitemap from a list of URLs
- Paste your page addresses into the URLs box, one per line, each starting with http:// or https://.
- Choose a Default Change Frequency, from always through yearly or never. Weekly is preselected.
- Choose a Default Priority from 1.0 down to 0.2. The default is 0.8.
- Check the Last Modified date. It is filled with today's date, and you can change it.
- Click Generate Sitemap. The XML and the number of URLs appear below.
- Use Copy or Download sitemap.xml, upload the file to your site root, then submit its address in Google Search Console.
What this sitemap generator does
Plain URL list input
One address per line. Lines that do not start with http are dropped, so stray notes do not end up in the file.
Standard sitemap format
The output starts with the XML declaration and a urlset element using the sitemaps.org namespace.
Default values for every URL
The same change frequency, priority and lastmod are written for each URL. There is no per-URL editing.
Ampersand escaping
Ampersands inside URLs are converted to the & form, which XML requires.
URL counter
After generation you see how many URLs went in, so you can spot a missing page.
Copy or download
Download saves a file named sitemap.xml. Copy puts the XML on your clipboard.
Who uses it, and for what
- Owners of small business sites. You have eight pages and no plugin that builds sitemaps. Paste the eight URLs and upload the file.
- Developers on static sites. After a build you have a list of routes. Paste it, generate, and commit the file with the rest of the site.
- Freelancers launching a landing page set. Generate a quick sitemap for a campaign site, then add its address to robots.txt using the Robots.txt Generator.
- SEO learners. See what a valid sitemap looks like, then compare it against one produced by your CMS.
Tips and things to watch for
- List only canonical, indexable URLs that return 200. Leave out redirected, noindex and duplicate pages.
- Use the exact version of each address, including https and a consistent trailing slash, so it matches your canonical tags. You can check these with the Canonical Tag Checker.
- Set Last Modified to a real date. A date that changes without any content change teaches crawlers to ignore the field.
- Priority only compares your own pages. Giving every page 1.0 says nothing, so use the same value unless you have a reason.
- A single sitemap file may hold up to 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed. This tool does not split files, so larger sites need several sitemaps and an index.
- After uploading, open the file in a browser to confirm it loads, then reference it in robots.txt.
Is it safe? Privacy and limits
The URLs you paste are processed in your browser. The page builds the XML locally, and nothing is uploaded or stored by the tool. It does not visit the addresses you list, so it cannot tell whether they exist or return an error. Download creates a local file. You are responsible for uploading it to your server and for checking that every URL is valid.
XML sitemap generator FAQ
An XML sitemap is a file that lists URLs on your site in a format search engines can read. It can include extra details for each URL, such as the last modified date. It helps crawlers discover pages, especially new pages or pages with few internal links. It does not guarantee that a page is indexed or ranked. Google treats it as a hint, and it still decides what to index based on quality and other signals.
No. It builds the file only from the URLs you paste. There is no crawler, so it will not find pages you forgot, and it does not check status codes. If you need automatic discovery, use a CMS plugin, a static site generator that outputs a sitemap, or a desktop crawler. This tool is a quick formatter for a list you already have, which is why it is best for small sites.
Changefreq is a hint about how often a page changes, such as daily or monthly. Priority is a number from 0.0 to 1.0 that says how important a URL is compared with others on your own site. Google has said it ignores both values, so they do not affect Google rankings. Some other tools and search engines may still read them. In this generator you choose one value for each, and the same one is applied to every URL.
A single sitemap file can contain up to 50,000 URLs, and the file must not be larger than 50 MB uncompressed. These limits come from the sitemap protocol. Bigger sites use several sitemap files plus a sitemap index file that lists them. This tool creates one file and does not enforce the limit, so if you paste more than 50,000 lines you must split the list yourself.
Upload sitemap.xml to your site, usually at the root, then open Google Search Console, pick your property and go to the Sitemaps report. Enter the file path or full address and click Submit. Google will report whether it could read the file and how many URLs it found. You can also add a Sitemap line to robots.txt so that other crawlers find it. Submitting does not force indexing, but it helps discovery.
The tool only keeps lines that start with http. A line such as www.example.com/page or one with leading text is dropped. Remove spaces and make sure each address starts with http:// or https://. Check the URL count shown above the output to confirm how many were accepted. Also make sure each URL is on its own line, since a comma-separated list will be treated as one line.
It should be the date the page content last changed in a meaningful way. This tool applies one date to all URLs and fills in today's date by default. If your pages changed at different times, that single date will be wrong for some of them. In that case, generate separate batches with different dates or edit the lines by hand. An inaccurate lastmod can cause search engines to trust that field less.
Yes, it is free, with no signup. You can generate as many files as you like. Since it runs in your browser, nothing needs to be installed. Before using the file, check the XML in the output box and compare it with your site. For a related technical check, see the Redirect Checker to make sure listed URLs do not redirect elsewhere.