Sitemap Index Generator

Organize large websites exceeding 50,000 URLs by splitting them into logical sub-sitemaps linked by a master index file.

How to Use This Tool

Enter Primary Domain

Input the root URL (e.g., https://example.com) where your sub-sitemaps are hosted.

Scan for Maps

Click generate to let our tool identify your site's architecture and potential sub-sitemaps.

Review Index

Review the generated structure to ensure all child sitemaps (like posts, pages, categories) are included.

Choose Output

Select the 'Sitemap Index' format to properly wrap the child URLs in an <sitemapindex> tag.

Copy or Download

Download the file as sitemap_index.xml or copy it directly to your clipboard.

Recommended Action

Submit ONLY this index file to Google Search Console to automatically submit all nested sitemaps.

Check Existing Sitemap

How It Works

Enter Domain

Input the root URL of your large website.

Categorization

We analyze paths to identify distinct content silos (e.g., products vs blogs).

Splitting

The system generates distinct XML sitemap files for each silo.

Index Generation

A master `sitemapindex` file is generated pointing to all sub-sitemaps.

Who Needs This?

Large Ecommerce Stores

Stores with thousands of product variations, category pages, and faceted navigation URLs.

News Publications

Media websites publishing dozens of articles daily that need to archive older content in separate sitemaps.

Multi-language Sites

Websites operating across multiple regions (hreflang) with massive URL footprints.

Enterprise SaaS

Platforms generating dynamic user-facing pages at scale.

Technical Explanation

Search engines strictly enforce a limit on individual XML sitemaps: they cannot contain more than 50,000 URLs and must be smaller than 50MB when uncompressed.

A Sitemap Index solves this by acting as a "sitemap of sitemaps." Instead of submitting individual pages, the index file provides search engines with a list of URLs pointing to other `.xml` files on your server.

This allows you to scale indefinitely. If you have 500,000 products, you can generate 10 individual product sitemaps (50k each) and link them all within a single `sitemap_index.xml` file. It also helps isolate indexing issues—if Google stops indexing a specific sub-sitemap, you can easily diagnose which content silo is causing the problem.

Example Output

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://example.com/products-sitemap.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-09-21</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
  <sitemap>
    <loc>https://example.com/blog-sitemap.xml</loc>
    <lastmod>2026-09-20</lastmod>
  </sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

Common Mistakes

Adding standard HTML page URLs directly into an index file instead of an XML sitemap URL.
Nesting a sitemap index inside another sitemap index (Google only supports one level of nesting).
Uploading sub-sitemaps to a different domain without verifying ownership.
Failing to compress large sub-sitemaps with gzip (.xml.gz).

BuildSitemap Behavior

When you select the "Sitemap Index" option, BuildSitemap automatically categorizes your discovered URLs into logical groups (e.g., Products, Categories, Blog, Pages). It then outputs a valid `<sitemapindex>` file formatted with standard protocols, assuming the sub-sitemaps will be hosted at your root domain.

Best Practice Checklist

Ensure all linked sub-sitemaps return a 200 OK statusHost the index file at the root of your domainSubmit ONLY the index file to Google Search ConsoleLink to the index file in your robots.txtGroup URLs logically (e.g., by content type or date)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a sitemap index?

A sitemap index is an XML file that lists other XML sitemaps. It's used when a website is too large to fit all its URLs into a single standard sitemap file.

When should I use a sitemap index?

You must use an index if your website has more than 50,000 URLs or if your single sitemap file exceeds 50MB. However, it's also highly recommended for smaller sites (e.g., 5,000 URLs) to logically separate products from blog posts for easier indexing tracking.

How many sitemap files can an index contain?

A single sitemap index file can contain up to 50,000 sitemap URLs. If you exceed this, you would need to create multiple sitemap index files.

Why split a sitemap?

Splitting sitemaps helps you monitor index coverage in Google Search Console. If you have a separate sitemap for 'Products' and 'Blog', you can easily see if Google is indexing your articles but ignoring your products.

Can an ecommerce site use multiple sitemaps?

Yes, it's the standard best practice. Large ecommerce sites usually have `sitemap-products.xml`, `sitemap-categories.xml`, and `sitemap-brands.xml`, all tied together with a main `sitemap-index.xml`.

Can a sitemap index contain another sitemap index?

No, the XML sitemap protocol only supports a single level of nesting. A sitemap index can only link to standard sitemaps, not other indexes.

Related Tools

Large Website Sitemap Generator

Generate sitemaps for sites with over 50,000 URLs.

XML Sitemap Generator

Generate a standard XML sitemap.

Ready to generate your sitemap?

Start crawling your website below. It's completely free.