seo-sitemap

# Sitemap Analysis & Generation ## When to Use - Use when analyzing an existing XML sitemap or generating a new one. - Use when the user mentions sitemap issues, sitemap generation, or sitemap validation. - Use when checking URL coverage, sitemap limits, and sitemap quality rules. ## Mode 1: Analyze Existing Sitemap ### Validation Checks - Valid XML format - URL count <50,000 per file (protocol limit) - All URLs return HTTP 200 - `<lastmod>` dates are accurate (not all identical) - No deprecated tags: `<priority>` and `<changefreq>` are ignored by Google - Sitemap referenced in robots.txt - Compare crawled pages vs sitemap; flag missing pages ### Quality Signals - Sitemap index file if >50k URLs - Split by content type (pages, posts, images, videos) - No non-canonical URLs in sitemap - No noindexed URLs in sitemap - No redirected URLs in sitemap - HTTPS URLs only (no HTTP) ### Common Issues | Issue | Severity | Fix | |-------|----------|-----| | >50k URLs in single file | Critical | Split with sitemap index | | Non-200 URLs | High | Remove or fix broken URLs | | Noindexed URLs included | High | Remove from sitemap | | Redirected URLs included | Medium | Update to final URLs | | All identical lastmod | Low | Use actual modification dates | | Priority/changefreq used | Info | Can remove (ignored by Google) | ## Mode 2: Generate New Sitemap ### Process 1. Ask for business type (or auto-detect from existing site) 2. Load industry template from `../seo-plan/assets/` directory 3. Interactive structure planning with user 4. Apply quality gates: - ⚠️ WARNING at 30+ location pages (require 60%+ unique content) - 🛑 HARD STOP at 50+ location pages (require justification) 5. Generate valid XML output 6. Split at 50k URLs with sitemap index 7. Generate STRUCTURE.md documentation ### Safe Programmatic Pages (OK at scale) ✅ Integration pages (with real setup docs) ✅ Template/tool pages (with downloadable content) ✅ Glossary pages (200+ word definitions) ✅ Product pages (unique specs, reviews) ✅ User profile pages (user-generated content) ### Penalty Risk (avoid at scale) ❌ Location pages with only city name swapped ❌ "Best [tool] for [industry]" without industry-specific value ❌ "[Competitor] alternative" without real comparison data ❌ AI-generated pages without human review and unique value ## Sitemap Format ### Standard Sitemap ```xml <?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>2026-02-07</lastmod> </url> </urlset> ``` ### Sitemap Index (for >50k URLs) ```xml <?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>2026-02-07</lastmod> </sitemap> <sitemap> <loc>https://example.com/sitemap-posts.xml</loc> <lastmod>2026-02-07</lastmod> </sitemap> </sitemapindex> ``` ## Error Handling - **URL unreachable**: Report the HTTP status code and suggest checking if the site is live - **No sitemap found**: Check common locations (/sitemap.xml, /sitemap_index.xml, robots.txt reference) before reporting "not found" - **Invalid XML format**: Report specific parsing errors with line numbers - **Rate limiting detected**: Back off and report partial results with a note about retry timing ## Output ### For Analysis - `VALIDATION-REPORT.md`: analysis results - Issues list with severity - Recommendations ### For Generation - `sitemap.xml` (or split files with index) - `STRUCTURE.md`: site architecture documentation - URL count and organization summary ## Limitations - Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above. - Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review. - Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.