Now Test Your Sitemaps Before Submitting Them To Google

Google has quietly added a feature to Google Webmaster Tools that allows you to test your sitemap files prior to submitting them to Google.

Google’s Pierre Far confirmed that this is indeed a brand new feature built to help webmasters debug their sitemap files prior to submitting them. One of the most common complaints about Google Sitemap files is that Webmaster would create them but not be able to know right away if they were valid. Now, Webmasters can create the sitemaps and test them in Google Webmaster Tools prior to submitting them to Google.

To test the sitemap files, simply login to Google Webmaster Tools, click on Site Configuration and then on Sitemaps. At the top right, there is an “Add/Test Sitemap” button.

After you enter the URL, click submit and Google will begin testing the sitemap file immediately.

When the test is complete, you can click a button to go see the test results.

I am told Google also added a few more features to Webmaster Tools, some we covered already, such as changing the average position calculation and new download options.

Google has now added a blog post on all these new items.

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