Include suitable destinations
Use canonical, indexable pages that return successful responses. Exclude redirect sources, private pages and intentionally non-indexable routes.
Use dates honestly
A last-modified value should reflect a meaningful content change. Updating every date during every build creates misleading freshness signals.
Keep it synchronized
Generate the sitemap from the same content registry as the site. Check it after deletions, migrations and changes to the production domain.
Put it to work
A practical next step
Compare sitemap entries with the generated page inventory and investigate any mismatch.
Keep the evidence with the decision.
Save the baseline, the reason for the change and the person responsible for checking it. This makes the work easier to review later and helps your team distinguish a verified improvement from an untested assumption.
This note provides a planning framework. The right implementation depends on your business model, market, website and available records. Where a decision involves scientific interpretation, clinical services or legal status, use the appropriate qualified reviewer rather than treating marketing guidance as approval.
Related agency support
Technical SEO ↗
Review the service scope and use the briefing tool to describe your current situation.