Sitemap Checker for Your Website
XML sitemap checked automatically for errors and Google compliance
What does the Sitemap Checker analyse?
Sitemap discovery via /sitemap.xml and robots.txt
Sitemap type: URL set or sitemap index
XML syntax and namespace correctness
Google limit of 50,000 URLs per file
Availability of child sitemaps and sampled URLs
lastmod data, mixed protocols and external domains
How the sitemap check works
A complete sitemap audit in 4 steps
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1 Step 1
Enter the URL
Enter your website address – we find the sitemap automatically, no further configuration needed.
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2 Step 2
Start the sitemap analysis
We read /sitemap.xml and robots.txt, validate the XML and follow a sitemap index down into its child files.
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3 Step 3
Review the results
You get the sitemap type, URL count, detected issues with severity and the sampled URLs we verified.
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4 Step 4
Fix the issues
Repair malformed XML, remove dead URLs and resubmit the corrected sitemap in Google Search Console.
Sitemap basics explained
The four concepts you should know for a clean sitemap setup
- URL set
- A classic sitemap with the root element
<urlset>. It lists your website's pages directly – at most 50,000 URLs and 50 MB per file. - Sitemap index
- An overview file with the root element
<sitemapindex>that points to further sitemaps. Required as soon as a single sitemap exceeds the limits. - robots.txt entry
- The line
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xmltells search engines where to find your sitemap – regardless of whether the file sits at the default path. - lastmod
- The date a URL's content last changed. Maintained correctly it helps search engines recrawl updated pages sooner.
The sitemap errors we detect
Every finding is classified by severity in the report
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Malformed XML
CriticalThe file cannot be parsed as XML – for example because of unclosed tags or unescaped special characters. Search engines then ignore the sitemap entirely.
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Empty URL set
CriticalThe sitemap has a valid
<urlset>but does not contain a single URL. Typical after a failed generation run. -
Empty sitemap index
CriticalThe index does not reference a single child sitemap, which makes the file worthless to search engines.
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Google limit exceeded
WarningThe sitemap contains more than 50,000 URLs. Google then processes only part of it – the fix is a sitemap index with multiple files.
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Mixed protocols
WarningThe sitemap contains both HTTP and HTTPS URLs. This creates duplicate content signals and points to an incomplete HTTPS migration.
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External domains
WarningThe sitemap lists URLs on foreign domains. Search engines only accept URLs belonging to the domain that serves the sitemap.
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Missing lastmod data
WarningNot a single URL carries a
<lastmod>date, which makes it harder for search engines to prioritise changes. -
Dead URL in the sitemap
CriticalA sampled URL responds with an error status. Dead URLs in the sitemap waste crawl budget.
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Child sitemap unreachable
CriticalA sitemap linked from the index returns an error status, leaving every URL it contains undiscovered.
Spot crawling issues early with the Sitemap Checker
With the InspectWP Sitemap Checker you see within seconds whether your XML sitemap is built correctly. We look for the sitemap at /sitemap.xml and additionally evaluate the Sitemap: entry in your robots.txt. We then validate the XML structure, count the URLs it contains and report malformed XML, empty sitemaps and violations of Google's 50,000 URL limit. That way you catch problems before Googlebot does.
Sitemap index, child sitemaps and sampled URLs under test
Large websites use a sitemap index that points to several child sitemaps. Our crawler follows those references and samples whether the linked sitemaps and URLs are actually reachable. On top of that we detect mixed HTTP/HTTPS entries, URLs pointing to foreign domains and missing lastmod data. The result is a complete overview you can take straight into Search Console and your editorial planning.
Thousands of website owners trust InspectWP
The numbers speak for themselves
Frequently asked questions about the Sitemap Checker
Everything you need to know about the XML sitemap test
/sitemap.xml for your domain and also reads your robots.txt to find any sitemap addresses declared there. The file we find is validated as XML, analysed and – in the case of a sitemap index – followed down into the child sitemaps.
More tools you might need
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