URL counts
Count sitemap or index entries and flag the protocol limit.
SITEMAP VALIDATION
XML sitemap inspector
Inspect XML sitemaps and sitemap indexes online. Validate URL limits, identify duplicate entries, verify host consistency, and parse lastmod values.
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Validate the XML file that guides search-engine discovery before submitting it.
CAPABILITIES
What you can do
Duplicate detection
Find repeated URLs in the submitted document.
Host validation
Identify invalid or cross-host sitemap entries.
Lastmod review
Check whether supplied modification dates can be parsed.
WORKFLOW
From data to action
- 1
Enter
Submit a public sitemap URL.
- 2
Parse
Read the XML and classify it as urlset or sitemap index.
- 3
Review
Inspect findings and a sample of submitted entries.
COMMON TASKS
Check XML sitemap problems before search engines find them
Use the report for sitemap troubleshooting, migration checks, and pre-submission validation in Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools.
Validate an XML sitemap online
Confirm whether the document is a URL set or sitemap index, count entries, and identify malformed or cross-domain locations.
Check sitemap lastmod dates
Measure lastmod coverage and flag invalid or stale dates that may send weak freshness signals.
Audit sitemap URL quality
Find duplicates, non-HTTPS locations, fragments, query parameters, and entries that exceed protocol limits.
Diagnose sitemap protocol size limits
Verify whether single sitemaps or nested index files adhere to protocol limits (maximum 50,000 URLs and 50MB uncompressed).
Detect non-canonical and redirected URLs
Ensure your sitemap submits only clean, 200 OK canonical URLs rather than 301 redirects, 404 broken links, or noindex pages that waste crawl budget.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
Questions this workflow answers
How can I check an XML sitemap before submitting it to Google?
Enter the public sitemap URL. SerpOrbit fetches the live XML, classifies its type, validates locations and lastmod values, and returns a sample of the submitted entries.
What is the difference between a sitemap index and a URL set?
A URL set contains page URLs. A sitemap index contains links to child sitemap files. The inspector reports the detected type so the correct limits and findings can be reviewed.
Should every sitemap URL have a lastmod date?
Lastmod is optional, but when supplied it should be valid and reflect meaningful page changes. The report shows coverage and invalid values without treating a missing date as a guaranteed error.
Why does Google Search Console show 'Sitemap could not be read' or 'Couldn't fetch'?
This error usually occurs due to server timeouts, incorrect XML declaration syntax, unescaped ampersands or special characters, or robots.txt blocking the sitemap location. The inspector parses the raw XML response to identify encoding and structural defects.
Should noindex or redirected URLs be included in an XML sitemap?
No. Sitemaps should strictly contain clean 200 OK indexable canonical pages. Submitting redirects (301/302) or noindex URLs wastes search engine crawl budget and sends conflicting signals to Google and Bing.