LAN Media

Free SEO tool

Free sitemap checker

Paste a sitemap URL or a homepage. We find the file, parse the XML, and sample listed URLs for live status codes, without crawling the whole site.

Parses up to 2,000 listed URLs, follows 3 child sitemaps, and samples 25 for HTTP status. About 8 seconds each, 3 at a time.

What this checker reports

A sitemap is a list, not a ranking signal. If the file is malformed or the URLs it lists are dead, crawlers waste the budget you meant to save them.

  • Discovery. robots.txt Sitemap: lines, then /sitemap.xml and /sitemap_index.xml if you paste a homepage.
  • File shape. Well-formed XML, urlset vs sitemap index, gzip, and the sitemaps.org namespace.
  • Listed URLs. Duplicates, relative locs, mixed http/https, mixed hosts, and lastmod dates that are invalid or all identical.
  • A live sample. Up to 25 listed URLs checked for 200, redirects and 4xx/5xx. We do not fetch the whole list.
  • priority and changefreq are noted as info. Google ignores both.

How a check works

Paste a sitemap or a homepage. We fetch the XML (gzip is fine), parse up to 2,000 loc strings, follow up to three child sitemaps from an index, then sample 25 URLs for status codes.

The report is grouped: file errors, listed-URL problems, then the sample. Bookmark a check with ?url= to run the same sitemap again later.

Limits, on purpose

We do not crawl 50,000 URLs, ping Google, or invent Search Console coverage data. Each run is rate-limited. That keeps the tool snappy for the next person, including you tomorrow.

Frequently asked questions

What does a sitemap checker test?

It finds or fetches your sitemap, parses urlset and sitemap index XML (including gzip), then reports duplicate URLs, relative locs, mixed hosts, bad lastmod dates, and HTTP errors on a sample of listed URLs.

Do I need to paste sitemap.xml?

No. Paste a homepage and we read robots.txt Sitemap: lines, then try /sitemap.xml and /sitemap_index.xml.

Why only a sample of URLs?

A sitemap can list 50,000 URLs. Fetching all of them would be a full-site crawl. We parse up to 2,000 loc strings and sample 25 for status codes.

Does Google use priority and changefreq?

Google ignores both. We mention them so you know they are not a ranking lever.

How many child sitemaps are followed?

Three. Enough to see whether an index is healthy without downloading the whole tree.

This tool is free and logs the requesting IP only to enforce the rate limit. URLs you submit are fetched so we can build the report. See the privacy policy.