It's a good idea to check for errors in your XML file and validate the sitemap before you submit to Google and other search engines. Issues with a sitemap can swiftly turn into issues with search engine optimization, our Google XML sitemap validator ensures you avoid that.
It's as easy as 1-2-3 to use our free sitemap checker tool.
💡 Pro tip: Make sure you set your sitemap XML priority, something our sitemap maker can help you with.
Sitemap errors happen and ignoring them can put you at a real disadvantage in the search results. Issues with an XML sitemap file can make it difficult for search engines to crawl and index your site effectively, meaning vital pages may be overlooked entirely and therefore not show up in search results.
Over time, that may lead to a decrease in your website's ranking
Here are several errors you may encounter and how to correct them:
| Error | Solution |
|---|---|
| Invalid namespace | The <urlset> tag holds the namespace, appearing as “xmlns”, which specifies the protocol standard that's being used and the accompanying XML schema. In non-techy terms, defining the namespace means you're telling Google what sort of elements and attributes appear in your sitemap and their tags. It's difficult to pinpoint why this issue arises as it could be from a plugin, so fixing it is case-by-case and done manually. |
| Unsupported format | This also comes from the namespace issue. If the protocol being used for your sitemap is incorrect, you'll have unsupported formats that crop up because Google is expecting one thing and getting another. You can also get this error if your XML attributes aren't all enclosed in the same type of quotes (‘ or”). Google also specifies they must be straight, not curled quotes. |
| Too many URLs | 50,000 URLs is the max, if you have more than that, first of all, impressive, secondly, you're going to need to generate multiple sitemaps and submit a sitemap index file. |
| HTTP error codes | No matter the status code, most often 401 and 404, if search engine crawlers come across them when trying to download your XML sitemap file, they won't be able to process it. The solution is to confirm the sitemap location and then resubmit it. |
Ideally, your report would come back with no issues detected, structural or otherwise, and you can just submit the sitemap to Google Search Console. Since that's not always the case, think of this as a two-step process; 1) generate XML sitemap 2) validate sitemap XML.
To quickly create that XML sitemap, just pop over to our XML sitemap generator.
Whether it's an HTML sitemap – which users will interact with – or a visual sitemap (check out our sitemap templates), which you'll use internally for website planning, understanding how to create a sitemap properly makes a big difference.
And if you're unsure of what sitemaps are, check out our what is a sitemap guide.
