XML Sitemap Generator: Free Sitemap.xml Tool

Free Tool · WritoryBuzz

Create a valid sitemap.xml file for Google and Bing. Add URLs manually or paste a bulk list, with control over priority, change frequency, and last modified date.

Default Settings

Default Change Frequency

Default Priority

Default Last Modified

Add URLs

URL	Priority	Change Frequency	Last Modified

Paste one URL per line. Default settings from Step 1 apply to all.

Your sitemap.xml

0 URLs

How to deploy: Upload sitemap.xml to your site root (yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml), then submit the URL in Google Search Console under Sitemaps.

Technical SEO

What Is an XML Sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a structured file that lists the pages on your site so search engines can find and crawl them more efficiently. It sits at your domain root, typically at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml, and is one of the first things you submit to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools when launching or restructuring a site.

A sitemap does not guarantee indexing, and it is not a ranking factor on its own. What it does is remove ambiguity. Instead of Google discovering your pages only through internal links, a sitemap hands over a direct list, which matters most for large sites, new sites with few backlinks, and pages that are not well linked internally.

Why Your Site Needs a Sitemap

Search engines crawl the web with a limited crawl budget, the number of pages a bot is willing to fetch from your site in a given period. A clear, accurate sitemap helps that budget go toward the pages that matter rather than getting lost following internal links. This matters most for:

Large sites with thousands of pages, where relying on internal linking alone risks orphaned or slow-to-discover pages.
New sites with few external backlinks, where crawlers have fewer paths in.
Sites with poor internal linking, where some pages are several clicks deep from the homepage.
Frequently updated sites, where an accurate lastmod date helps Google prioritise recrawling.

Do Priority and Changefreq Actually Matter?

Honestly, not much for Google. Google has stated plainly, including from Search Advocate John Mueller and Analyst Gary Illyes, that it ignores the priority and changefreq fields entirely. The only fields Google's crawlers actually rely on are loc (the URL) and lastmod (the last modified date), and only when that date is accurate.

This generator still includes priority and changefreq because they remain part of the official Sitemaps.org protocol, and some other crawlers, such as Bing and smaller search engines, may still reference them. But do not expect setting a page's priority to 1.0 to influence its Google ranking. It will not. Spend your effort instead on making sure your lastmod dates are real, meaning they reflect an actual content change rather than an arbitrary refresh, since faking them can cause Google to distrust the field for your entire site.

Field	Does Google Use It	Recommendation
loc	Yes	Required. Must be the exact canonical URL.
lastmod	Yes, if accurate	Use the real content change date, not today's date by default.
changefreq	Ignored by Google	Optional. Harmless to include, will not affect Google crawling.
priority	Ignored by Google	Optional. May help organise your own sitemap logic, not a ranking signal.

How to Use This Sitemap Generator

Set your default change frequency, priority, and last modified date in Step 1. These apply automatically to any URL that does not specify its own values. In Step 2, either add URLs one at a time using the Table Editor for fine control over each page, or switch to Bulk Paste and drop in a full list of URLs, one per line, when you just need to apply the same defaults across many pages.

Click Generate Sitemap to produce valid XML. Copy it or download the file directly, save it as sitemap.xml, and upload it to your domain root. On WordPress, this usually means uploading via FTP or a file manager plugin to the public_html folder. Once live, submit the sitemap URL in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools under their respective Sitemaps sections.

Keep it accurate. Only include canonical, indexable URLs. Leave out pages blocked by robots.txt, redirected URLs, and duplicate parameter versions of the same page. A sitemap full of URLs that will not actually get indexed wastes crawl budget rather than saving it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an XML sitemap a ranking factor?+

No. A sitemap is a discovery and crawling aid, not a ranking signal. It helps search engines find your pages more efficiently, particularly on large sites or sites with weak internal linking, but including a page in your sitemap does not make it rank higher. Content quality, relevance, and authority still determine rankings.

Do priority and changefreq values affect my Google ranking?+

No. Google has confirmed repeatedly, including from John Mueller and Gary Illyes, that it ignores both the priority and changefreq fields. They remain part of the official sitemap protocol and are harmless to include, and other search engines may reference them, but do not expect them to influence Google crawling or rankings.

Does the lastmod date actually matter?+

Yes, this is the one optional field Google does use. An accurate lastmod date helps Google decide when to recrawl a page. The date needs to reflect a genuine content change. Setting it to today's date on every generation run, regardless of whether anything changed, can cause Google to stop trusting the field across your whole site.

How many URLs can a single sitemap file contain?+

A single sitemap file can list up to 50,000 URLs and must not exceed 50 megabytes uncompressed. Larger sites split their URLs across multiple sitemap files and reference them all from a single sitemap index file. This tool is best suited to sites with up to a few hundred URLs entered manually or pasted in bulk.

Where do I upload my sitemap.xml file?+

Upload sitemap.xml to your domain root so it is reachable at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. On WordPress, use FTP or a file manager plugin to place it in the public_html folder. After uploading, submit the sitemap URL in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools under their Sitemaps sections so both engines are aware of it.

Should I include every page on my site in the sitemap?+

No. Include only canonical, indexable URLs you actually want in search results. Leave out pages blocked by robots.txt, thin or duplicate content, redirected URLs, and parameterised versions of pages that already have a canonical elsewhere. A sitemap full of low-value URLs can waste crawl budget instead of guiding it usefully.

Does WordPress already generate a sitemap automatically?+

If you use an SEO plugin such as Yoast or Rank Math, yes, WordPress typically generates one automatically at yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml. This standalone generator is most useful for non-WordPress sites, static sites, custom builds, or when you want manual control over which URLs, priorities, and dates are included rather than relying on a plugin's automatic output.

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