XML Sitemap Generator Skill

XML Sitemap Generator

Generate valid XML sitemaps compliant with the Sitemaps Protocol for search engine optimization.

Output Requirements

File Output: sitemap.xml, sitemap-index.xml, or sitemap-{section}.xml Format: Valid XML with proper namespace declarations Standards: Sitemaps Protocol 0.9

When Invoked

Immediately generate a complete, valid XML sitemap. Infer reasonable priority and changefreq values based on URL patterns.

Sitemap Protocol Specifications

Required Elements

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/page</loc>
  </url>
</urlset>

Optional Elements

<lastmod> - Last modification date (W3C Datetime format)
<changefreq> - Expected change frequency
<priority> - Relative priority (0.0 to 1.0)

Limits

Maximum 50,000 URLs per sitemap file
Maximum 50MB file size (uncompressed)
Use sitemap index for larger sites

Template Types

Basic Website Sitemap

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <!-- Homepage -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
    <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
  </url>

  <!-- Main Navigation Pages -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/about</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-10</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/services</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-12</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/contact</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-05</lastmod>
    <changefreq>yearly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.6</priority>
  </url>

  <!-- Blog Section -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/blog</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
    <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/blog/post-title-one</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-14</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.6</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/blog/post-title-two</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-10</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.6</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

E-commerce Sitemap

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <!-- Homepage -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://store.example.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
    <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
    <priority>1.0</priority>
  </url>

  <!-- Category Pages -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://store.example.com/category/electronics</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
    <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
    <priority>0.9</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://store.example.com/category/electronics/laptops</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
    <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>

  <!-- Product Pages -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://store.example.com/product/laptop-pro-15</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-14</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://store.example.com/product/wireless-mouse</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-13</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>

  <!-- Static Pages -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://store.example.com/shipping</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-01</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.5</priority>
  </url>

  <url>
    <loc>https://store.example.com/returns</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-01</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.5</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

Sitemap Index (For Large Sites)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://example.com/sitemap-pages.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
  </sitemap>

  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://example.com/sitemap-blog.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
  </sitemap>

  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://example.com/sitemap-products-1.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
  </sitemap>

  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://example.com/sitemap-products-2.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-14</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

Sitemap with Images Extension

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
        xmlns:image="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/products/widget</loc>
    <image:image>
      <image:loc>https://example.com/images/widget-front.jpg</image:loc>
      <image:title>Widget Front View</image:title>
      <image:caption>High-quality widget shown from the front</image:caption>
    </image:image>
    <image:image>
      <image:loc>https://example.com/images/widget-side.jpg</image:loc>
      <image:title>Widget Side View</image:title>
    </image:image>
  </url>
</urlset>

Sitemap with Video Extension

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
        xmlns:video="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-video/1.1">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/videos/tutorial</loc>
    <video:video>
      <video:thumbnail_loc>https://example.com/thumbs/tutorial.jpg</video:thumbnail_loc>
      <video:title>Getting Started Tutorial</video:title>
      <video:description>Learn how to use our product in 5 minutes</video:description>
      <video:content_loc>https://example.com/videos/tutorial.mp4</video:content_loc>
      <video:duration>300</video:duration>
      <video:publication_date>2024-01-15T08:00:00+00:00</video:publication_date>
    </video:video>
  </url>
</urlset>

News Sitemap

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
        xmlns:news="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-news/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://news.example.com/article/breaking-news</loc>
    <news:news>
      <news:publication>
        <news:name>Example News</news:name>
        <news:language>en</news:language>
      </news:publication>
      <news:publication_date>2024-01-15T12:00:00+00:00</news:publication_date>
      <news:title>Breaking: Major Event Unfolds</news:title>
    </news:news>
  </url>
</urlset>

Priority and Changefreq Guidelines

Priority Values

| Page Type | Priority | |-----------|----------| | Homepage | 1.0 | | Main category/section pages | 0.8-0.9 | | Product/service pages | 0.7-0.8 | | Blog/article index | 0.7 | | Individual blog posts | 0.5-0.6 | | Policy pages (privacy, terms) | 0.3-0.5 | | Utility pages (login, cart) | 0.3 |

Changefreq Values

| Value | Use For | |-------|---------| | always | Real-time pages, live data | | hourly | News, frequently updated content | | daily | Blog index, homepage | | weekly | Product pages, regular content | | monthly | About pages, documentation | | yearly | Policy pages, archives | | never | Dated archives, old content |

Date Formats

W3C Datetime (Required)

YYYY-MM-DD
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sTZD

Examples:

2024-01-15
2024-01-15T09:30:00+00:00
2024-01-15T09:30:00Z

Validation Checklist

Before outputting, verify:

[ ] Valid XML declaration with UTF-8 encoding
[ ] Correct namespace declarations
[ ] All URLs are absolute (include protocol and domain)
[ ] URLs are properly escaped (& becomes &)
[ ] lastmod dates are W3C Datetime format
[ ] priority values are between 0.0 and 1.0
[ ] changefreq uses valid values
[ ] Under 50,000 URLs per file
[ ] No duplicate URLs

URL Escaping

Escape these characters: | Character | Escape | |-----------|--------| | & | & | | ' | ' | | " | " | | > | > | | < | < |

Example Invocations

Prompt: "Create sitemap.xml for a SaaS marketing website" Output: Complete sitemap.xml with homepage, features, pricing, blog, and static pages.

Prompt: "Generate e-commerce sitemap with categories and products" Output: Complete sitemap.xml with category hierarchy, product pages, and static pages.

Prompt: "Sitemap index for a large news site" Output: Complete sitemap-index.xml plus individual sitemap-{section}.xml files.

Agent Skills: XML Sitemap Generator

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