Core Concepts

What is a Sitemap?

A sitemap is an XML file that lists all the important URLs on your website. Search engines like Google use sitemaps to discover and understand the structure of your site, making it easier for them to crawl and index your pages.

<?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"
        xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/products/widget</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-10</lastmod>
    <image:image>
      <image:loc>https://example.com/images/widget.jpg</image:loc>
      <image:title>Widget Product Photo</image:title>
    </image:image>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/products/widget"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/products/widget"/>
  </url>
</urlset>

Sitemap Elements

Google ignores the legacy changefreq and priority attributes. SitemapHost focuses on the elements that actually impact SEO: lastmod, images, and hreflang.

Why Host Sitemaps Externally?

Traditional websites generate sitemaps dynamically from their database. But modern architectures like headless CMS, static site generators, and programmatic SEO sites face unique challenges:

50MB File Size Limit -- Search engines reject sitemaps larger than 50MB. Large sites with millions of pages need to split sitemaps into multiple files.

50,000 URL Limit -- Each sitemap file can only contain 50,000 URLs. Sites with more URLs need a sitemap index file pointing to multiple child sitemaps.

Serverless Architecture -- Static sites hosted on Vercel, Netlify, or Cloudflare Pages can't dynamically generate large sitemaps. They need a dedicated hosting solution.

SitemapHost solves these problems by hosting your sitemaps on dedicated infrastructure with automatic splitting, caching, and global CDN delivery.

How SitemapHost Works

1. You upload URLs -- Send your URLs via API or dashboard. We accept JSON or CSV format with optional metadata like lastmod, images, and hreflang.
2. We generate XML -- Our system generates properly formatted, valid XML sitemaps. If you have more than 50,000 URLs, we automatically split them into multiple files.
3. Served via CDN -- Your sitemaps are stored on Cloudflare's R2 storage and served via their global CDN. Response times are typically under 50ms worldwide.
4. Search engines notified -- With GSC integration enabled, we automatically submit your sitemap to Google Search Console. IndexNow notifies Bing, Yandex, and Naver within minutes.

Sitemap Index Files

When you have more than 50,000 URLs, SitemapHost automatically creates a sitemap index file that references multiple child sitemaps:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://sitemap.yoursite.com/sitemap-1.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://sitemap.yoursite.com/sitemap-2.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://sitemap.yoursite.com/sitemap-3.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

Tip: When using a sitemap index, submit only the index file to search engines. They will automatically discover and process all child sitemaps.

Custom Domains & SSL

We recommend serving sitemaps from a subdomain of your main site (e.g., sitemap.yoursite.com). This provides:

• Consistent branding with your domain
• Clear association with your website for search engines
• Automatic SSL certificate provisioning

SSL certificates are provisioned automatically using Cloudflare for SaaS. No additional configuration is required on your part.

Next Steps

• Quick Start Guide - Get your first sitemap hosted in 5 minutes
• Automatic Splitting - Learn how we handle large sitemaps