What a sitemap should contain
Include canonical, indexable URLs that you want search engines to discover. Exclude redirects, error pages, duplicate parameter URLs, noindex pages, and URLs blocked from crawling. A sitemap is a discovery signal, not a command to index every submitted page.
Required structure
A standard sitemap uses a urlset root with the sitemap namespace. Each URL belongs in its own url element and the absolute URL sits inside loc. Optional lastmod values should reflect meaningful page changes rather than a date that is automatically refreshed every day.
Validation checks
Use absolute HTTPS URLs, escape ampersands in query strings, keep host and trailing-slash conventions consistent, and verify that submitted pages return a successful response. Large sites can split URLs across multiple sitemap files and reference them from a sitemap index.
Build one from a list
Paste your approved canonical URLs into the URL List to XML Sitemap tool, then download sitemap.xml.
Open the recommended toolFinal check
Conversion is only one part of the workflow. Review the output in the system where it will be used, confirm that important details remain accurate, and keep the original source until the final version has been verified.