Enter your domain or a sitemap’s address. MrKeyword finds the sitemap through robots.txt, checks that the XML parses, counts the URLs and names every problem it finds: broken or relative URLs, other hosts, duplicates and bad <lastmod> dates. It then fetches 20 of the listed URLs live.
Free, no account needed. MrKeyword fetches the page live and shows only what it found.
Built on first-party data from Google and Bing
An XML sitemap validator reads the sitemap search engines read and tells you whether they can use it: whether the file loads and parses as XML, how many URLs it lists, and which entries break the sitemap rules or point at pages that should not be there.
Enter a bare domain and the validator reads the Sitemap: line in robots.txt, or tries /sitemap.xml when there is none. Enter any other address and it is read as the sitemap itself, gzip included. A sitemap index is followed into its first five child sitemaps.
Every listed URL is checked for format (absolute http or https, no #fragment), host, duplicates and <lastmod> dates that are invalid or in the future. Then 20 URLs, spread across the file, are fetched live and any that answer with an error, a redirect or a noindex are named. The problems use the same names and fixes as the sitemap check in MrKeyword’s site audit, which reads every file and every URL.
HTTP status, sitemap or sitemap index, gzip, the XML error and its line, the 50,000-URL and 50 MB limits, and child sitemaps that fail or sit on another host.
Relative, malformed and other-host URLs, duplicates, invalid or future lastmod dates, and 20 URLs fetched live for errors, redirects and noindex.
The fictional northwind-plumbing.example names /sitemap_index.xml in its robots.txt. The index lists two sitemaps, one for pages and one for blog posts, ten URLs in all. Entering the bare domain northwind-plumbing.example gives:
https://northwind-plumbing.example/sitemap_index.xml · found in robots.txt · Sitemap index
2 files10 URLs5 problems
1 found. Remove these URLs from the sitemap, or restore the pages.
1 found. Every <loc> must be a full URL such as https://example.com/page.
/blog/draft-radiator-guide Relative URL1 found. Set lastmod to when the page content really last changed.
1 found. List the final URL each one redirects to instead.
1 found. Remove noindex pages from the sitemap, or remove the noindex if they should rank.
| Status | URL | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/ | OK |
| 200 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/services/ | OK |
| 200 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/boiler-repair | OK |
| 404 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/spring-offer-2024HTTP 404 | Broken |
| 200 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/contact | OK |
| 200 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/blog/ | OK |
| 200 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/blog/boiler-pressure | OK |
| 301 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/blog/old-boiler-guideHTTP 301 → https://northwind-plumbing.example/blog/boiler-guide | Redirect |
| 200 | https://northwind-plumbing.example/blog/tag/boilersnoindex | Noindex |
Example result for a fictional website (northwind-plumbing.example). It is produced by the checker's own code from the setup described above; run the checker for your own pages.
The XML of all three files parses, so search engines can read the sitemap, but half of what it asks them to crawl is wasted. The 2024 offer page was deleted (404): take it out. The old boiler guide redirects, so list /blog/boiler-guide, the address it lands on. The tag page carries a noindex tag, so it asks to be crawled and then refuses to be indexed: drop it from the sitemap. The draft post is listed as a relative path, which is not a valid <loc>; it needs the full https:// address, or no entry at all if it isn’t published. And the contact page’s <lastmod> says 2062, a typo for 2026; a future date is one reason search engines stop trusting a site’s lastmod. Our guide to doing an SEO audit shows where the sitemap fits in a full check, and the site audit reads every sitemap file and every URL, not a sample.
Some sites answer /sitemap.xml with their 404 page or home page and HTTP 200. Search engines can’t use it; the validator flags it as an HTML page, not a sitemap.
An & in a query string must be written & inside the XML, or the whole file fails to parse. The validator shows the line.
Every <loc> needs the full address with the protocol and host the site really uses. Relative paths are invalid, and http:// or www variants on an https site point at redirects.
Plugins often list tag pages, old slugs and pages set to noindex. List only canonical URLs that answer 200 and should rank.
A lastmod that changes when the page doesn’t, or that sits in the future, teaches Google and Bing to ignore it. Use the date the content really changed.
Check it whenever the way the sitemap is made changes, and whenever pages are found but not indexed.
Up to 50,000 URLs, and no more than 50 MB uncompressed. A bigger site splits its URLs across several sitemaps and lists them in a sitemap index. Gzip saves bandwidth, but the 50 MB limit applies to the file once decompressed.
Yes, when it is accurate. Google uses lastmod if it is consistently and verifiably accurate, and ignores priority and changefreq. Bing also uses lastmod to decide what to recrawl, and an accurate date matters as much if you send changed URLs through IndexNow. A lastmod that changes when the page does not, or a date in the future, teaches search engines to ignore it.
A sitemap (a urlset file) lists page URLs. A sitemap index (a sitemapindex file) lists other sitemap files, so you can submit one address for many files. An index can list up to 50,000 sitemaps, but it can’t list another index: search engines don’t follow nested indexes.
No. List only the canonical URLs you want indexed, each answering HTTP 200. A redirecting URL should be replaced with the address it redirects to, and a noindex page sends a mixed signal: you ask search engines to crawl it, then tell them not to index it.
Add a line such as Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml to robots.txt, which every search engine reads. Then submit the same address in Google Search Console (Indexing, then Sitemaps) and in Bing Webmaster Tools (Sitemaps, then Submit sitemap). Google retired its sitemap ping in 2023. Our Bing Webmaster Tools guide walks through the Bing side, IndexNow included.