XML Sitemap Best Practices
Create the perfect XML sitemap for complete search engine coverage.
An XML sitemap is your site's roadmap for search engines, telling Google every page to index.
Structure
XML declaration, urlset wrapper, <url> entries with <loc>, <lastmod>, <changefreq>, <priority>.
Size Limits
Max 50,000 URLs and 50MB per sitemap. Use sitemap index for larger sites.
What to Include
Canonical URLs only, indexable pages, 200 status. Exclude: redirects, noindex, duplicates.
Submit to Google
Via Search Console. Also in robots.txt: Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
Pro Tip
Keep sitemaps clean. Only include canonical, indexable URLs.
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