BUY WEBSITES
BUY DOMAINS
LOGIN
SIGNUP
Sitemap Index Builder
A sitemap index is the parent XML file that points search engines at every child sitemap on a site, and it is the single URL submitted in Google Search Console or referenced in robots.txt. Once a site outgrows the 50,000-URL or 50MB limit of a single sitemap, or simply splits its sitemaps by content type, those child files have to be wrapped in a <sitemapindex> so crawlers can discover them all from one place.
This free, browser-based tool turns a plain list of child sitemap URLs into a valid sitemap index file, escapes each location correctly, adds an optional lastmod date, and lets you copy or download the result. It runs entirely client-side, so nothing you paste is uploaded or stored.
post-sitemap.xml) you want a parent index to point at. Each must be a full http(s):// URL.
YYYY-MM-DD) is valid for sitemaps.
🔒 Private: everything runs in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded.
How to use the sitemap index builder
Paste one child sitemap URL per line, choose whether to stamp a lastmod date on each entry, and the valid
Paste one child sitemap URL per line
Each line in the box should be a full http(s):// URL pointing at a child sitemap, such as a post, page, product, or category sitemap. The tool validates every line, keeps the ones that parse as absolute URLs, and silently skips blanks, relative paths, and malformed entries while showing a running count of what was kept and what was rejected. Duplicate URLs are removed automatically so the same child sitemap is never listed twice, which keeps the index lean and avoids the redundant fetches that waste crawl budget on larger sites.
Decide whether to add a lastmod date
The optional <lastmod> field tells search engines when each child sitemap last changed, which can help them prioritise re-crawling the sections that actually moved. The toggle defaults to today’s date in the W3C YYYY-MM-DD format the sitemap protocol accepts, and the date is fully editable, so it is an honest signal you set rather than a fabricated timestamp. Leave it off if you cannot supply an accurate change date, because a lastmod that never matches reality is worse than none and trains crawlers to ignore the field entirely.
Copy, download, and reference the index
The output panel renders a complete, correctly nested <sitemapindex> document with the proper XML declaration and namespace, ready to use without further editing. Copy it to the clipboard or download it as sitemap_index.xml, then upload that file to the site root and submit its URL in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Adding a Sitemap: line to robots.txt that points at the same file gives crawlers a second discovery path. The XML escaping is handled for you, so ampersands and other reserved characters in URLs will not break the file.
Sitemap index builder frequently asked questions
Q1What is a sitemap index and when do I need one?
A sitemap index is a parent XML file that lists other sitemaps instead of individual pages. You need one when a site has more than 50,000 URLs or exceeds 50MB in a single sitemap, since those are the protocol limits, or whenever you split sitemaps by content type and want to submit a single parent URL to search engines rather than each child file separately.
Q2Does this tool fetch or validate the sitemaps I list?
No. The tool never makes network requests. It only checks that each line is a well-formed absolute http or https URL, then wraps the valid ones in sitemapindex XML. It does not download the child sitemaps or confirm they exist, so verify the URLs are live and correct yourself before submitting the index to a search engine.
Q3What lastmod date format should I use?
The sitemap protocol accepts the W3C datetime format, and a plain calendar date in YYYY-MM-DD form is fully valid for a sitemap index. This tool defaults to today and lets you edit it. Only set a lastmod you can stand behind, because an accurate change date helps crawlers prioritise, while a date that never reflects real updates trains them to ignore the signal.
Q4Why are some of my lines skipped?
Lines are skipped when they are blank, are not absolute http or https URLs, or duplicate a URL already in the list. Relative paths like /post-sitemap.xml are rejected because a sitemap index requires full locations. The counter shows how many entries were invalid or duplicated so you can fix or ignore them, and only clean, unique URLs reach the generated XML.
Q5Is the generated sitemap index file safe to use as-is?
Yes. The output includes the required XML declaration, the correct sitemaps.org namespace, and properly escaped location values, so reserved characters such as ampersands will not break the file. Save it as sitemap_index.xml, place it at your site root, and submit the URL in Search Console. It is plain, standards-compliant XML with no tracking, scripts, or external dependencies added.
