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XML sitemaps: what Google reads, and the two fields it ignores

A sitemap tells Google which addresses you want crawled. Google's own guide is specific about what counts.

Author: HD4 min read

Table of contents
  1. Key takeaways
  2. What it is for
  3. What Google reads
  4. Common mistakes
  5. Check it
  6. See it on your own site
  7. Sources

What it is for#

A sitemap lists the addresses you want Google to know about. It helps most on large sites, new sites, and pages with few links pointing at them.

What Google reads#

  • Size: all formats limit one sitemap to 50MB uncompressed or 50,000 URLs.
  • Google ignores the priority and changefreq values.
  • Google uses lastmod if it is consistently and verifiably accurate, so only change it for a real update.

Common mistakes#

Listing redirected or noindex pages, and stamping every page with today's date.

Check it#

The site scan reads your sitemap and robots.txt and reports what is wrong with either.

See it on your own site#

The free website check reads a site you name and reports what holds its pages back, with no account and no card. It changes nothing on your site.

Run the free website check

Sources#

FAQ schema in 2026: why the rich result went away, and why the markup still helpsGoogle now shows FAQ rich results only for well-known government and health sites. Here is what is left for everyone else.Page fixesHD4 min readOctober 16, 2026Core Web Vitals: the three numbers, and the thresholds Google calls goodLoading, responsiveness and visual stability, each with one number. Here are the targets and where to read yours.Page fixesHD5 min readOctober 16, 2026Largest Contentful Paint: what it measures and the usual fixesLCP is the moment the biggest thing on screen appears. On most pages it is the hero image or the headline.Page fixesHD4 min readOctober 16, 2026