Free sitemap checker
Enter your store's address to find its XML sitemap and check it the way Google reads it: every sitemap file, how many URLs each lists, and a sample of those pages opened to see if they load, redirect or are set to noindex. Works for any site, with extra detail for Shopify stores. Free, with no login.
How to Check a Sitemap
- 1
Enter your store's address
Your homepage is enough: the checker finds the sitemap in robots.txt or at /sitemap.xml. You can also paste a sitemap address directly.
- 2
Every sitemap file is read
The sitemap index and the files it lists, up to 12, with the number of URLs in each and any file that fails to load.
- 3
Listed pages are opened
Up to 24 pages, taken from each file in turn, are opened the way a crawler would, to find the ones that return errors, redirect or say noindex.
What This Sitemap Checker Checks
Finds a site's XML sitemap from robots.txt or the usual address, reads the sitemap index and every file it lists, counts the URLs, and opens a sample of the pages to check they load and can be indexed.
- Where the sitemap is, and whether robots.txt points to it
- That it is a valid sitemap or sitemap index, and that each file loads
- URL counts against Google's limit of 50,000 per file
- URLs on another domain, on http://, or listed twice
- A sample of listed pages: errors, redirects, noindex and canonicals pointing elsewhere
How to Read Sitemap Checker Results
A report you cannot interpret is just a longer way of saying something is wrong.
Sitemap files
A Shopify sitemap is an index that lists separate files for products, collections, pages and blog posts. Each row shows how many URLs a file lists. A file that fails to load hides every page in it.
Problems
Ranked by how much they get in the way of indexing. High means Google is being sent to pages it can't or shouldn't index; low is housekeeping.
Pages checked
A sample of the URLs the sitemap lists, opened one by one. Every page in a sitemap should load directly and be indexable. Pages that return errors, redirect or say noindex don't belong there.
Canonical elsewhere
The page says another address is the main version. Google usually indexes that one instead, so the sitemap should list the canonical address.
Where Is My Shopify Sitemap?
Every Shopify store has an XML sitemap at yourstore.com/sitemap.xml, on your primary domain. Shopify writes it and keeps it current, so you don't create or upload one.
It is a sitemap index: a short file that lists other sitemaps, one each for products, collections, pages and blogs (with their posts). Large catalogs get several product files. Shopify's robots.txt points to it with a Sitemap line, which is how crawlers find it.
Only resources visible on your Online Store are listed. Products not published to the Online Store sales channel, and pages hidden from search engines, are left out.
How to Submit Your Shopify Sitemap to Google
Submitting the sitemap in Google Search Console tells Google where it is and shows you how many of its pages are indexed.
- 1Open Google Search Console and select your store's property (verify your domain first if you haven't).
- 2Go to Indexing, then Sitemaps.
- 3Enter sitemap.xml after your domain and select Submit.
- 4Come back after a few days: Search Console shows when it last read the sitemap and how many pages it found.
Can I Edit a Shopify Sitemap?
Not directly: Shopify generates sitemap.xml and there is no file to edit. You control what is in it through what you publish.
To keep a page out, unpublish it from the Online Store, or hide it from search engines with the seo.hidden metafield, which removes it from the sitemap and adds noindex. To fix a page listed with a problem, fix the page: add a redirect for a deleted product, remove a stray noindex, or correct a canonical.
Common Sitemap Problems and How to Fix Them
What this tool turns up most often on Shopify stores, and the fix for each.
The finding
Pages set to noindex are listed
Why it happens
A theme or an app marks pages noindex, but they are still published, so Shopify keeps them in the sitemap.
The fix
Decide which is right. If the page should rank, remove the noindex. If it shouldn't, hide it with the seo.hidden metafield or unpublish it so it leaves the sitemap too.
The finding
Listed pages return 404
Why it happens
Pages deleted or renamed while something still lists them, often a sitemap written by an app.
The fix
Add a URL redirect in Shopify to the closest live page, or remove the source that lists the old address.
The finding
Listed pages redirect
Why it happens
A handle changed and Shopify added a redirect, but something still lists the old address.
The fix
List the final address. In Shopify's own sitemap this clears itself; in an app's sitemap, regenerate it.
The finding
URLs on the wrong domain
Why it happens
URLs on the myshopify.com address or an old domain, usually from a sitemap app or a domain change.
The fix
Set your primary domain in Shopify's Domains settings, and remove sitemap apps that write their own addresses.
The finding
robots.txt doesn't point to the sitemap
Why it happens
A custom robots.txt.liquid template replaced Shopify's default rules and lost the Sitemap line.
The fix
Add Sitemap: https://yourstore.com/sitemap.xml back to the template, and submit the sitemap in Search Console.
What This Sitemap Checker Cannot Check
Every tool has a boundary. Knowing where this one ends is what keeps you from over-reading it.
- It reads up to 12 sitemap files and opens up to 24 listed pages, so on a large store it samples rather than checks every URL.
- Password-protected stores can't be checked: the password page hides the sitemap from crawlers too.
- It can't tell you which pages Google has indexed. Search Console's Pages report shows that.
Know Which Pages Google Has Indexed
A sitemap tells Google what to crawl; Search Console says what it indexed. ShopSEO connects to Google Search Console to show your store's indexing in one place, can ask Google to read your sitemap again, and audits every page your store publishes.