Which sitemap generator should you use?
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For most small business websites, a built-in CMS plugin such as Yoast SEO (WordPress) or Squarespace's native sitemap is the right answer. Standalone generators like Screaming Frog or XML-sitemaps.com suit sites without a CMS or those with complex crawl needs. The deciding factors are your CMS, site size, and how often your content changes.
Key takeaways
WordPress sites should default to Yoast SEO or Rank Math: both generate, update and submit XML sitemaps automatically, with no manual steps.
Standalone web-based generators such as XML-sitemaps.com are free up to 500 URLs and suit static or CMS-free sites.
Screaming Frog's free version crawls up to 500 URLs and produces a sitemap; beyond that, the paid licence costs £209 per year.
The single biggest mistake is submitting a sitemap full of noindex pages, thin content or redirect chains — the generator is irrelevant if what it lists is wrong.
Site size, update frequency and technical complexity are the three variables that separate a plugin from a dedicated crawler tool.
What does a sitemap generator actually do?
A sitemap generator crawls your website and produces an XML file listing every URL you want search engines to find and index. Most also record metadata: when a page was last modified, how frequently it changes, and its relative priority. Once submitted to Google Search Console, that file gives Googlebot a reliable map of your site rather than forcing it to discover pages through links alone.
The generation step is straightforward. The hard part is deciding which URLs belong in the file — and that decision is yours, not the tool's.
What are the main types of sitemap generator?
There are three categories worth knowing.
CMS plugins sit inside your website platform and update the sitemap automatically when you publish or change a page. Yoast SEO and Rank Math on WordPress are the clearest examples. They integrate directly with your CMS database, so they know immediately when a page exists, is noindexed, or is set to draft.
Web-based crawlers are online tools where you enter your URL and the tool spiders your site from the outside. XML-sitemaps.com and similar services work this way. They are useful when you do not have CMS access or are working on a static HTML site.
Desktop crawlers such as Screaming Frog SEO Spider crawl your site locally from your computer. They produce highly configurable sitemaps and expose technical issues at the same time, making them the preferred choice for anyone doing a full website audit.
How do you decide which one to use?
The choice comes down to four practical questions.
Do you have a CMS? If you run WordPress, a plugin is almost always the right answer. Yoast SEO's sitemap is generated automatically, honours your noindex settings, and updates without any action on your part. There is no meaningful reason to use a standalone tool on a standard WordPress site.
How large is your site? Web-based free tools cap out at 500 URLs. Desktop crawlers handle large sites comfortably, though the free version of Screaming Frog imposes the same 500-URL ceiling. If your site has thousands of pages — an e-commerce catalogue or a large news archive — you need either a paid desktop tool or a server-side script.
How often does your content change? A site that publishes new pages daily needs a generator that updates automatically. A static brochure site updated twice a year can use a web-based generator and resubmit manually when something changes.
Do you need to diagnose technical issues alongside generating the sitemap? Screaming Frog and similar desktop crawlers do both simultaneously. If you are building a sitemap as part of a broader technical audit, a crawler pays for itself in saved time.
Comparison: main sitemap generator options
Tool | Best for | Cost | Limitation |
Yoast SEO (WordPress) | WordPress sites, automatic updates | Free (premium from £99/year) | WordPress only |
Rank Math (WordPress) | WordPress with schema and AEO focus | Free (premium from £67/year) | WordPress only |
XML-sitemaps.com | Static or CMS-free sites under 500 URLs | Free (paid plans available) | No automatic updates |
Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Technical audits, large or complex sites | Free up to 500 URLs; £209/year beyond | Requires desktop install |
Shopify (built-in) | Shopify stores | Included in Shopify subscription | No manual customisation of output |
Squarespace (built-in) | Squarespace sites | Included | Limited control over included URLs |
What actually goes wrong with sitemap generators?
The tool rarely causes the problem. The sitemap content does.
The most common error is including pages that should not be there: noindex pages, redirects, near-duplicate content, or URLs with tracking parameters attached. A generator cannot make that judgement for you. Before submitting any sitemap to Google Search Console, check it against your noindex settings and remove anything you would not want Google to prioritise.
The second common error is neglecting to resubmit after significant site changes. Google does re-crawl sitemaps periodically, but resubmitting manually after a large migration or content restructure speeds up reindexing. Our existing guide to making an XML sitemap for your small business website covers this process in full.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use more than one sitemap generator on the same site? You can, but there is rarely a good reason to. Using two plugins simultaneously on WordPress — Yoast SEO and Rank Math, for example — will generate conflicting sitemaps and create confusion in Google Search Console. Pick one and stick with it.
Does the sitemap generator affect my Google rankings directly? No. A sitemap generator helps Google find your pages more efficiently; it does not determine how those pages rank. Rankings depend on content quality, relevance and authority. A well-structured sitemap simply ensures pages are not missed during crawling.
Do I need a sitemap if my site is small? Google can often discover a small site's pages through internal links alone. That said, a sitemap costs nothing to create and submit, and it removes any uncertainty. The question for small sites is less "do I need one" and more "which tool takes the least effort" — for most, that is the plugin already built into their CMS.
Should a sitemap include image or video URLs? Standard XML sitemaps list page URLs. Google supports separate image and video sitemaps, or extensions within the main sitemap, for media-heavy sites. Most CMS plugins do not generate these by default; you would need to configure this separately or use a specialist tool.
What should I do if Google Search Console reports errors in my sitemap? Open the sitemap report in Google Search Console, identify which URLs are flagged and why — common causes are redirect chains, noindexed pages and soft 404s — then correct the underlying page issue rather than adjusting the generator settings. The generator is reflecting what it finds; the fix usually lives in the CMS or the page itself.
Written by the Revolve team — a digital marketing agency helping small and mid-sized UK businesses with SEO, AEO and technical site health.
Last updated: 9 October 2026
