/seo:sitemap

XML sitemap validation, URL coverage analysis, quality gate enforcement, and sitemap generation assistance

/seo:sitemap

Validate XML sitemap structure, assess URL coverage, enforce quality gates, and optionally generate or fix sitemaps.

Quick Start

/agileflow:seo:sitemap https://example.com                   # Validate existing sitemap
/agileflow:seo:sitemap https://example.com GENERATE=true      # Also generate improvements

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
`<URL>`	Yes	-	Site domain to analyze
`GENERATE`	No	false	Generate or fix sitemap XML

What Gets Checked

Sitemap Existence - Does the site have sitemap.xml?
XML Structure - Valid XML, correct namespace, proper elements
URL Quality - Status codes, canonical matches, not noindexed, HTTPS
Coverage - Important pages included, no orphans
Quality Gates - lastmod dates present and recent, size limits
robots.txt - Sitemap declared and discoverable

Quality Gates

Metric	Warning	Critical
Non-200 URLs	> 5%	> 15%
Missing lastmod	> 20%	> 50%
Stale lastmod (>1 year)	> 30%	> 60%
Sitemap not in robots.txt	Always flag	-
No sitemap found	-	Always flag
Duplicate URLs	Any	> 10

XML Sitemap Structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/page</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-01-15</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/another-page</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-02-01</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
  </url>
</urlset>

For large sites (>50,000 URLs), use Sitemap Index:

<?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>2026-01-15</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://example.com/sitemap-products.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-02-01</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

Example Usage

Validate Existing Sitemap

/agileflow:seo:sitemap https://example.com

Check structure, coverage, quality, and issues.

Generate Improvements

/agileflow:seo:sitemap https://example.com GENERATE=true

Get recommendations for fixing or improving your sitemap.

Output Format

# Sitemap Analysis: https://example.com
 
## Status
 
| Metric | Value | Status |
|--------|-------|--------|
| Sitemap found | Yes | https://example.com/sitemap.xml |
| In robots.txt | Yes | Declared ✓ |
| Format | XML | Valid ✓ |
| Total URLs | 450 | Within limits ✓ |
| File size | 18MB | Within 50MB ✓ |
 
---
 
## URL Quality Assessment
 
| Status | Count | % | Severity |
|--------|-------|---|----------|
| Live (200) | 422 | 93.8% | Good |
| Moved (301/302) | 15 | 3.3% | Warning |
| Not Found (404) | 10 | 2.2% | Warning |
| Forbidden (403) | 2 | 0.4% | Warning |
| Server Error (5xx) | 1 | 0.2% | Warning |
 
**Quality Score**: 418 live URLs = 92.9% (Good)
 
---
 
## Critical Issue: 10 Non-200 URLs
 
| URL | Status | Issue |
|-----|--------|-------|
| /products/old-item | 404 | Product discontinued |
| /blog/draft-post | 404 | Draft not published |
| /legacy/page | 301 | Redirect in place |
| ... | ... | ... |
 
**Fix**: Remove 404 URLs or ensure redirects are in place
 
---
 
## lastmod Quality
 
| Category | Count | Status |
|----------|-------|--------|
| With lastmod | 380 | 84.4% |
| Without lastmod | 70 | 15.6% | Warning |
| Recent (< 3 months) | 220 | 49% | Good |
| Moderate (3-12 months) | 160 | 35.6% | OK |
| Stale (> 1 year) | 70 | 15.6% | Warning |
 
**Recommendation**: Add lastmod to pages without it, update stale dates
 
---
 
## Coverage Analysis
 
| Page Type | Required | In Sitemap | Missing |
|-----------|----------|-----------|---------|
| Homepage | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Main categories | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| Products | 350 | 340 | 10 |
| Blog posts | 85 | 85 | 0 |
 
**Missing products**: 10 products not in sitemap
- /products/clearance-items (not yet published)
- /products/pre-order-items (restricted)
 
---
 
## Sitemap Score: 75/100
 
- Structure: ✓ Valid XML
- Coverage: ⚠️ 97% of discovered pages
- Quality: ⚠️ 3% non-200 URLs
- robots.txt: ✓ Declared
- Size: ✓ Within limits
 
---
 
## Recommendations
 
### High Priority
1. **Fix 10 non-200 URLs**
   - Remove dead URLs from sitemap
   - Or redirect them to live pages
   - Impact: Improves crawl efficiency
 
2. **Add lastmod to 70 pages**
   - Use last modified date
   - Helps Google understand update frequency
   - Impact: Better crawl scheduling
 
### Medium Priority
1. **Update stale lastmod dates**
   - Pages with lastmod > 1 year old
   - Even if just republished unchanged
   - Impact: Better freshness signals
 
2. **Add missing product pages**
   - 10 products not in sitemap but discoverable
   - Include via link or direct addition
   - Impact: Better crawl coverage
 
### Low Priority
1. **Optimize priorities**
   - Currently all 0.5-0.8, could be more granular
   - Prioritize highest-converting pages
   - Impact: Subtle crawl optimization
 
---
 
## Tools to Help
 
- **Sitemap Generator**: Screaming Frog, Moz, SEMrush
- **Validator**: Google Search Console, XML sitemap validator
- **Monitoring**: Google Search Console Sitemaps report
- **Testing**: https://www.xml-sitemaps.com/validate-xml-sitemap.html

Pages That Should Be in Sitemap

These page types should always be included:

Homepage
Main category/section pages
Key content pages (blog posts, articles)
Product/service pages
Location pages
Cornerstone/pillar content
Important internal pages

Pages That Shouldn't Be in Sitemap

Login/authentication pages
Thank you pages (after form submission)
Search results pages
Duplicate or canonical targets
Pages with noindex directive
Admin/internal-only pages
Print-friendly versions

Common Sitemap Issues

Sitemap not declared in robots.txt
- Fix: Add Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
Non-200 URLs in sitemap
- Fix: Remove dead URLs or redirect them
Missing lastmod dates
- Fix: Add last modified dates to pages
Stale lastmod dates
- Fix: Update dates for recently modified pages
Sitemap over size limits
- Limit: 50,000 URLs per file, 50MB per file
- Fix: Split into multiple sitemaps with sitemap index
Missing important pages
- Fix: Add to sitemap or ensure they're discoverable
Duplicate URLs in sitemap
- Fix: Remove duplicates
Wrong protocol (HTTP vs HTTPS)
- Fix: Ensure all URLs use HTTPS

Best Practices

Declare in robots.txt - Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
Include lastmod dates - helps with crawl scheduling
Update regularly - especially for frequently changing content
Quality over quantity - only include important pages
Use correct priority - should reflect business importance
Check validity - validate XML regularly
Monitor in Search Console - track indexing success
Keep URLs current - remove or redirect deleted pages

/seo:audit - Sitemap is 15% of full audit
/seo:technical - robots.txt and crawlability
/seo - SEO toolkit overview

/seo:schema /seo:geo

On This Page

/seo:sitemap Quick Start Parameters What Gets Checked Quality Gates XML Sitemap Structure Example Usage Validate Existing Sitemap Generate Improvements Output Format Pages That Should Be in Sitemap Pages That Shouldn't Be in Sitemap Common Sitemap Issues Best Practices Related Commands