Sitemap URL Inspector
Inspect and validate a sitemap.xml (or sitemap index), including .xml.gz sitemaps. Follow redirects, parse up to a configurable number of URLs, highlight common SEO/crawler issues, and export JSON/PDF reports.
Features
- Parse standard sitemaps and sitemap indexes (sitemap-of-sitemaps).
- Supports gzipped sitemaps (.xml.gz) for real-world large sites.
- Optional redirect following to audit the final fetched sitemap URL.
- Configurable parsing limit (max URLs to parse) to keep audits fast and predictable.
- Validates core sitemap fields and highlights missing/invalid tags (especially <loc>).
- Extracts and reviews <lastmod> usage for consistency and crawler friendliness.
- Helps spot sitemap patterns relevant to multi-locale SEO (e.g., URL grouping and hints for hreflang strategies).
- Copyable findings and summaries for SEO tickets and debugging.
- Export reports as JSON or PDF for documentation, sharing, and regression tracking.
🧭 How to use for sitemap-url-inspector
Paste your sitemap URL
Enter the full sitemap URL. This can be a regular XML sitemap or a gzipped sitemap ending with .xml.gz.
Enable “Follow Redirects” if needed
If your sitemap URL redirects (http→https, non-www→www, CDN rewrites), enabling redirects ensures the tool fetches the final sitemap location.
Set “Max URLs to parse”
Choose how many URL entries to parse. Use smaller limits for quick checks, larger limits for deeper audits (up to the tool's cap).
Review validation results and URL stats
Look for structural issues (missing <loc>, invalid dates, unexpected formats) and any warnings that could affect crawling and indexing.
Export the report (JSON/PDF)
Download a JSON or PDF report to attach to SEO tasks, share with teammates, or compare before/after changes.
Technical specs
Supported inputs
The tool is designed to fetch and parse sitemaps served over HTTP(S), including compressed variants.
| Input type | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| XML sitemap | [https://example.com/sitemap.xml](https://example.com/sitemap.xml) | Parses <urlset> entries. |
| Sitemap index | [https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml](https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml) | Parses <sitemapindex> and nested sitemap URLs. |
| Gzipped sitemap | [https://example.com/sitemap.xml.gz](https://example.com/sitemap.xml.gz) | Fetches and parses compressed sitemaps. |
Fetch behavior and limits
Request behavior is tuned for predictable performance and crawler-like constraints.
| Setting | Behavior | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Follow Redirects | Follows redirects when fetching the sitemap URL | Enabled |
| Max Redirects | Maximum redirects followed when enabled | 10 |
| Timeout | Request timeout budget | 20000 ms |
| Max URLs to parse | Limits how many entries are parsed from the sitemap content | 500 (range 10–5000) |
| User-Agent | Request identification header | Encode64Bot/1.0 (+[https://encode64.com](https://encode64.com)) |
| Private networks | Blocks private-network targets | Not allowed |
What validation focuses on
The inspector prioritizes issues that commonly break sitemap ingestion or reduce crawl efficiency: missing/invalid <loc>, malformed XML structures, suspicious or inconsistent <lastmod>, and patterns that can confuse crawlers when sitemaps are generated incorrectly.
Command line
Use curl (or PowerShell) to debug sitemap fetching and redirects the same way crawlers do.
macOS / Linux
Fetch sitemap headers (no redirect)
curl -I [https://example.com/sitemap.xml](https://example.com/sitemap.xml)Check status code, content-type, and caching headers.
Follow redirects and fetch headers
curl -IL [https://example.com/sitemap.xml](https://example.com/sitemap.xml)Useful when a sitemap URL is redirected by CDN or HTTPS canonicalization.
Download sitemap content (preview)
curl -s [https://example.com/sitemap.xml](https://example.com/sitemap.xml) | head -n 40Quickly inspect the XML prolog and root tags.
Inspect a gzipped sitemap (preview)
curl -s [https://example.com/sitemap.xml.gz](https://example.com/sitemap.xml.gz) | gzip -dc | head -n 40Decompress and preview the beginning of a .xml.gz sitemap.
Windows (PowerShell)
Download sitemap content
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri [https://example.com/sitemap.xml](https://example.com/sitemap.xml) | Select-Object -ExpandProperty ContentFetches the XML body for quick inspection.
Use cases
Validate a newly generated sitemap
Quickly verify that sitemap.xml is fetchable, well-formed, and contains correct URL entries.
- Confirm your generator outputs valid XML structure
- Catch missing <loc> values early
Audit gzipped sitemaps for crawler compatibility
Ensure compressed sitemaps are served correctly and parse cleanly.
- Check .xml.gz content is readable and consistent
- Spot CDN/proxy content-type issues
Debug redirect and canonicalization problems
Find unexpected redirects or non-200 responses that can block sitemap consumption.
- http→https redirect chains
- www vs non-www canonicalization
Track sitemap quality over time
Export reports and compare after releases, CMS migrations, or multi-locale expansions.
- Before/after deploy regression checks
- Monitor <lastmod> consistency after content updates
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
❓What's the difference between a sitemap and a sitemap index?
❓Should my sitemap include <lastmod>?
❓Why would a sitemap be ignored by crawlers?
XML structure, missing ❓Is it OK if my sitemap redirects?
❓Can this tool check every URL in the sitemap for status codes?
❓Does this tool support multi-locale / hreflang sitemaps?
Pro Tips
Submit the final canonical sitemap URL in Search Console (avoid relying on redirects).
For very large sites, split sitemaps and use a sitemap index. Keep each sitemap within protocol limits and operationally manageable chunks.
Use <lastmod> only if it's accurate. Don't update it for every deploy if the page content didn't change.
If you have multi-locale URLs (like /fr/, /en/), ensure your sitemap generation is consistent across locales so crawlers don't see partial coverage.
Export JSON/PDF after major releases so you have evidence for debugging Search Console indexing swings.
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