Sitemap Inspector
Validate your XML sitemaps, check URL statuses, detect SEO issues, and ensure your sitemap is search engine friendly. Support for all sitemap types including standard, image, video, and news sitemaps.
Why Use a Sitemap Inspector?
A properly structured sitemap is crucial for SEO success. This tool helps you ensure your sitemap is technically sound and contains healthy URLs:
- Validate XML structure and detect parsing errors
- Check HTTP status codes for all URLs
- Identify broken links and redirects
- Detect SEO issues like missing lastmod dates
- Find URLs that shouldn't be indexed
- Discover orphaned pages with no internal links
- Support for sitemap indexes and specialized sitemap types
Supported formats: Standard XML sitemaps, sitemap indexes, image sitemaps, video sitemaps, and news sitemaps.
How to Use This Tool
- Enter either a full sitemap URL (https://example.com/sitemap.xml) or just a domain (example.com)
- The tool will automatically fetch and parse your sitemap
- Review validation results and XML structure errors
Sitemap Best Practices
XML Structure Requirements
Your sitemap must be valid XML with proper encoding (UTF-8). Use either <urlset> for direct URL listings or <sitemapindex> for organizing multiple sitemaps. Each URL entry should include <loc> and optionally <lastmod>, <changefreq>, and <priority> elements.
URL Status and Accessibility
Every URL in your sitemap should return a 200 OK status code. Redirects (301/302) are acceptable but should be minimized. Broken links (404) and server errors (5xx) indicate problems that need immediate attention.
Content Freshness and Indexing
Keep your sitemap updated with current lastmod dates. Pages blocked in robots.txt shouldn't appear in your sitemap. Avoid including URLs with tracking parameters or pages that shouldn't be indexed like admin areas, thank-you pages, or checkout flows.