How does Lemwatch monitor XML sitemaps?
Lemwatch fetches every sitemap and sitemap-index nightly, validates XML, and alerts on 404s, drops in URL count, and stale lastmod dates.
Quick answer#
Lemwatch discovers your sitemaps from robots.txt, fetches each nightly, validates the XML, and alerts on 404s, sudden URL-count drops (>20%), and lastmod dates older than 30 days.
What we check#
Where to find it in Lemwatch#
Site → SEO → Sitemaps — see every discovered sitemap and its history.
FAQ#
What is the 500-URL cap?#
We sample the first 500 URLs per sitemap to keep crawl budget sane. Priority pages are picked first.
Can I add sitemaps manually?#
Yes — paste any URL under Sitemaps → Add.
Related#
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How does Lemwatch track robots.txt changes?
Lemwatch snapshots robots.txt on every check and alerts when disallow rules change, sitemaps disappear, or the file returns non-200.
How does Lemwatch track Google indexation?
Lemwatch pulls index coverage from Google Search Console and cross-references it with your sitemap to surface unindexed and dark URLs.
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