Sitemap Frequency Analyzer

Audit your XML Sitemap's <changefreq> usage to ensure optimal crawl budget allocation and SEO signaling.

Total URLs

Most Common

Missing Tags

Optimization Score

0/100

Frequency Distribution

Detailed Breakdown

Frequency	Count	Share

How to Use the Sitemap Frequency Analyzer

The <changefreq> tag in your XML sitemap serves as a hint to search engine crawlers about how often the content on a specific URL is likely to change. While search engines like Google may not strictly adhere to these values, using them correctly helps prioritize crawl budget for rapidly changing content (like news) over static content (like "About Us" pages).

Step-by-Step Instructions

Get Your Sitemap: Open your XML sitemap file (e.g., yoursite.com/sitemap.xml) and copy the entire code.
Paste & Analyze: Paste the XML into the text area above and click "Analyze Frequency".
Review Distribution: The tool will visualize which frequencies (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) dominate your sitemap.
Check for Errors: Look at the "Missing Tags" metric. If a large number of URLs are missing a frequency, you might be missing an opportunity to guide crawlers.

Understanding Changefreq Values

The Sitemap Protocol defines seven valid values for this tag. Using them correctly is key to a healthy SEO strategy:

always: Use this for pages that change every time they are accessed (e.g., stock market data).
hourly: Good for major news sites or real-time event logs.
daily: Ideal for blog homepages, product listings, or message boards.
weekly: Standard for product pages or directory listings.
monthly: Use for static pages that are occasionally tweaked (FAQs, Help Articles).
yearly: For "About", "Contact", or "Privacy Policy" pages.
never: For archived content that will absolutely never change.

Pro Tip: Don't mark all your pages as "daily" if they don't actually change daily. Search engines verify your claims against the actual content updates. If you "cry wolf" too often, they may ignore your changefreq tags entirely.

SEO Impact of Frequency Tags

While Google has stated that they largely ignore the <priority> tag, the <changefreq> tag still holds some utility in calculating crawl schedules for new or updated sites. A balanced distribution shows a mature site architecture. A sitemap where 100% of URLs are "daily" looks suspicious, while one where 100% are "undefined" lacks optimization.