Sitemap Viewer
Parse and Analyze XML & TXT Sitemaps
About Sitemap Viewer
This comprehensive sitemap analysis tool helps you parse, analyze, and understand XML and TXT sitemaps to gain insights into website structure, content organization, and SEO optimization.
Key Features:
- Parse XML and TXT sitemap formats
- Process nested sitemap indexes automatically
- Advanced search and filtering capabilities
- Multiple sorting options (URL, date, priority)
- Export data as CSV or TXT files
- Real-time statistics and insights
Use Cases:
- SEO audits and content analysis
- Website migration planning
- Content inventory management
- Competitor analysis
- Technical SEO troubleshooting
- Site architecture understanding
Sitemap Types & Formats
XML Sitemaps
Structured format following the sitemaps.org protocol. Provides rich metadata about each URL.
- Location (loc): The URL of the page
- Last Modified (lastmod): When the page was last updated
- Change Frequency (changefreq): How often the page changes
- Priority: Relative importance (0.0-1.0)
TXT Sitemaps
Simple text format with one URL per line. Lightweight but lacks metadata.
- One URL per line
- Maximum 50,000 URLs per file
- No metadata support
- UTF-8 encoding required
- Comments start with #
Understanding XML Metadata
Change Frequency Values:
- always: Page changes every time it's accessed
- hourly: Page changes every hour
- daily: Page changes daily
- weekly: Page changes weekly
- monthly: Page changes monthly
- yearly: Page changes yearly
- never: Page is archived/static
Priority Guidelines:
- 1.0: Most important pages (homepage)
- 0.8-0.9: Major category pages
- 0.6-0.7: Important content pages
- 0.4-0.5: Regular content (default)
- 0.1-0.3: Less important pages
- 0.0: Lowest priority
SEO & Technical Insights
SEO Benefits:
- Helps search engines discover content faster
- Indicates page importance through priority
- Shows content freshness via lastmod dates
- Improves crawl efficiency for large sites
- Provides structured data for search engines
Analysis Tips:
- Check for missing important pages
- Verify lastmod dates are current
- Ensure priority distribution makes sense
- Look for broken or redirecting URLs
- Validate changefreq matches actual updates
Troubleshooting & Common Issues
Common Problems:
- 404 Errors: Sitemap URL doesn't exist or is misconfigured
- Empty Results: Sitemap might be malformed or use unsupported encoding
- Timeout Errors: Large sitemaps may take time to process
- Nested Sitemap Issues: Some nested sitemaps might be inaccessible
Best Practices:
- Keep sitemaps under 50,000 URLs and 50MB
- Use gzip compression for large XML sitemaps
- Update lastmod dates when content changes
- Submit sitemaps to Google Search Console
- Reference sitemap location in robots.txt
Sitemap Viewer FAQs
What is a sitemap and why is it important?
A sitemap is an XML or TXT file that lists all important pages on your website for search engines to discover and crawl. It helps search engines understand your site structure, find new or updated content faster, prioritize important pages, and improve crawl efficiency especially for large sites. Sitemaps are crucial for SEO and ensuring all your content gets indexed.
What's the difference between XML and TXT sitemaps?
XML sitemaps follow the sitemaps.org protocol and include rich metadata like last modified dates, change frequency, and priority. They support up to 50,000 URLs per file and can be compressed. TXT sitemaps are simple text files with one URL per line, supporting up to 50,000 URLs but no metadata. XML is preferred for most use cases due to its flexibility.
How many URLs can I include in a sitemap?
Each sitemap file can contain up to 50,000 URLs and must not exceed 50MB uncompressed. For larger sites, use a sitemap index file that references multiple sitemaps. Split sitemaps logically by content type, section, or date to make management easier and improve crawl efficiency.
What does priority in XML sitemaps mean?
Priority is a value from 0.0 to 1.0 that indicates the relative importance of pages on your site. Default is 0.5. Homepage typically gets 1.0, major sections 0.8-0.9, and regular content 0.4-0.6. However, search engines use this as a hint only - they determine actual importance through links, content quality, and user engagement.
How often should I update my sitemap?
Update your sitemap whenever you: add new pages, remove or redirect pages, make significant content updates, change site structure, or publish time-sensitive content. For dynamic sites, consider automatically generating sitemaps. Submit updated sitemaps to Google Search Console and ping search engines about changes.
What is changefreq and does it matter?
Changefreq indicates how frequently a page is likely to change (always, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, never). It's a hint to search engines about crawl frequency. However, major search engines largely ignore this value and determine optimal crawl frequency based on actual content changes, so don't rely on it heavily.
Should I include every page in my sitemap?
No, only include canonical, indexable pages that you want search engines to crawl. Exclude: duplicate content, pages blocked by robots.txt, pages with noindex tags, login/admin pages, parameter variations, low-quality or thin content, and paginated pages (use rel=next/prev instead). Quality over quantity is key.
How do I submit my sitemap to search engines?
Submit sitemaps through Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, and other search engine consoles. Add sitemap location to robots.txt file (Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml). You can also ping search engines directly when updating: http://www.google.com/ping?sitemap=URL. Monitor coverage reports for errors.
Pro Tips
- • Split large sitemaps into multiple files organized by content type or section for easier management.
- • Use dynamic sitemap generation to automatically update sitemaps when content changes.
- • Always include absolute URLs (https://example.com/page) not relative URLs (/page) in sitemaps.
- • Compress XML sitemaps with gzip to reduce file size and improve crawl efficiency.
- • Monitor Google Search Console coverage reports to identify and fix sitemap errors.
- • Include lastmod dates and keep them accurate - search engines prioritize recently updated content.
- • Don't include URLs that redirect, return errors, or are blocked by robots.txt - clean your sitemap.
- • Reference your sitemap in robots.txt so search engines can find it automatically.