What Gets Checked with a Sitemap Checker?

The Sitemap Checker performs a thorough evaluation to ensure your sitemaps are valid, accessible, and optimized for search engines.

Core Checks #

• Sitemap Discovery: Automatically locates sitemaps via robots.txt or standard file paths.
• Accessibility: Confirms the sitemap returns a valid HTTP 200 response and isn’t blocked.
• XML Validation: Ensures proper XML formatting and structure.
• URL Counting: Counts all URLs, including those inside child sitemaps when using sitemap indexes.
• Child Sitemap Analysis: Fetches and inspects each child sitemap referenced in an index.
• File Size: Verifies individual and total file sizes against recommended limits.
• Freshness: Reviews last modified dates to highlight outdated sitemaps.
• Metadata Quality: Checks for lastmod tags (optional but recommended).
• Best Practices: Validates compliance with sitemap protocol specifications.
• Issue Detection: Flags problems that may prevent proper search engine discovery.

Special Handling for Sitemap Indexes #

When analyzing sitemap indexes, the tool:

• Fetches each child sitemap individually.
• Counts all URLs across child sitemaps (not just those listed in the index file).
• Verifies accessibility of each child sitemap.
• Provides a detailed breakdown with URL counts and file sizes per child sitemap.