How to Create an XML Sitemap and Submit It to Search Engines

The short answer

A sitemap.xml is a file listing the pages you want in search results. It helps search engines discover new and updated URLs faster, especially on large sites and in poorly linked sections. The process: generate the sitemap, make sure it contains only the right pages, reference it in robots.txt and submit it in webmaster tools.

File format

A minimal sitemap looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-09-01</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/services/</loc>
  </url>
</urlset>

Key rules:

• full absolute URLs with protocol;
• UTF-8 encoding;
• no more than 50,000 URLs and 50 MB uncompressed per file;
• use lastmod only if it honestly reflects a content change.

Google ignores changefreq and priority, so there is no need to spend time on them.

What to include and exclude

The core principle: the sitemap must not contradict other signals. A URL in the sitemap that carries noindex is a mistake.

Index file for large sites

If you exceed the limit or want to split the sitemap by type, use a sitemap index:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <sitemap><loc>https://example.com/sitemap-pages.xml</loc></sitemap>
  <sitemap><loc>https://example.com/sitemap-products.xml</loc></sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

Splitting by type also makes diagnostics easier: webmaster tools show which section gets indexed worse.

Generating it in CMSs and frameworks

• WordPress — the core built-in sitemap or SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math).
• Bitrix, Tilda, Shopify — sitemaps are generated natively; enable and check them.
• Next.js — an app/sitemap.ts file that returns an array of URLs pulled from a database or CMS.
• Other frameworks — generator packages or your own endpoint that builds XML from the database.

The sitemap should update automatically when pages are published or removed, not be assembled by hand once a year.

Submitting to Google and Yandex

1. Add a line to robots.txt: Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml.
2. Google Search Console — the "Sitemaps" report; paste the sitemap URL.
3. Yandex Webmaster — "Indexing" → "Sitemap files".
4. A few days later, check the status: read errors and the number of discovered URLs.

Common mistakes

• URLs use http instead of https, or a www variant that does not match the main host.
• Pages with redirects and 404s are included.
• lastmod changes on every build even though content did not.
• The sitemap is blocked in robots.txt or returns a server error.