SEO guides and free tools
Short guides on XML sitemaps, robots.txt and Google Search Console, each checked against the documentation from Google and sitemaps.org, plus free tools to test your own files.
Guides
- What is an XML sitemap?
What goes in the file, the limits, how to submit it, and a minimal example.
- Sitemap vs robots.txt
What each file does, and why robots.txt does not keep a page out of Google.
- How to fix sitemap errors in Google Search Console
Every documented Sitemaps report message, with its cause and fix.
- How to create an XML sitemap in WordPress
The sitemap WordPress already makes, how Yoast and Rank Math change it, and when a generator helps.
- How to submit a sitemap to Google Search Console
The steps, the robots.txt line and what each status means.
- Sitemap could not be read: causes and fixes
Why Search Console reports a fetch error, and how to check each cause.
- Image and video sitemaps
When they help, the tags Google still reads and the ones it dropped.
- The 50,000-URL limit, and when to use a sitemap index
The two file limits and how an index gets around them.
- What Google does with lastmod, priority and changefreq
Why lastmod counts only when it is honest, and why the other two are ignored.
Free tools
- Sitemap validator
Check a sitemap against the protocol rules and limits.
- Robots.txt tester
See whether a URL is allowed or blocked by a robots.txt file.
Comparisons
- XML-Sitemaps.com alternative
A side-by-side with XML-Sitemaps.com, including where it is cheaper.
Or skip the reading and map your own site.
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