What the checker validates
- The sitemap URL responds with a 200 status
- The file is well-formed XML (gzipped sitemaps are supported)
- Whether it is a urlset or a sitemap index
- How many URLs it lists and how many have a lastmod date
- Whether any URLs point to a different host
Frequently asked questions
How many URLs can a sitemap contain?
Up to 50,000 URLs or 50MB uncompressed per file. Larger sites use a sitemap index.
Should every URL be in the sitemap?
Include canonical, indexable URLs you want found. Leave out redirects, noindex pages and duplicates.