SEO fix guide
Sitemap Contains Invalid URLs
The XML sitemap includes URLs that return errors or are malformed. This wastes crawl budget and sends bad signals to search engines.
Issue ID: CRAWL-SITEMAP-INVALID-001
Severity: moderate
Impact: Med
Effort: S
Use this article when
- You need deeper remediation guidance than the issue card can show.
- You want CMS-specific steps before handing the fix to a developer.
- You want a repeatable re-check path after shipping the change.
What this issue is
The XML sitemap includes URLs that return errors or are malformed. This wastes crawl budget and sends bad signals to search engines.
Why it matters
The XML sitemap includes URLs that return errors or are malformed. This wastes crawl budget and sends bad signals to search engines. This affects how clearly search engines understand the page and how persuasive it looks in search results.
How we detect it
- FreeSiteAudit flags this issue when the rule for CRAWL-SITEMAP-INVALID-001 fails and the page evidence points to Http headers.
- You can usually confirm this by checking the page source or the relevant page settings inside your CMS.
Evidence examples
Check the affected page source, rendered output, or relevant CMS setting to confirm the missing or incorrect element.
How to fix it
- 1Remove or fix invalid URLs in the sitemap
- 2Use a sitemap validation tool to check for issues
- 3Regenerate the sitemap from your CMS
How to re-check it
- Validate sitemap URLs and confirm all return HTTP 200
Related tools
This issue is best verified with the full FreeSiteAudit crawl rather than a single-point mini tool.