Clarifying a common misconception about sitemaps and search engine optimization
Introduction: The Myth Around Sitemap Dates
There’s a long-standing belief among some webmasters that manually updating the <lastmod> (last modified) date in an XML sitemap can influence how frequently Google crawls their site or even improve rankings. However, Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst, John Mueller, has clarified that this practice has no real impact on SEO.
What Is the Purpose of an XML Sitemap?
XML sitemaps serve as a roadmap for search engines like Google, helping them discover and index the important pages on your website. While sitemaps can include metadata such as the last modification date, priority, and change frequency, these fields are not ranking factors.
Mueller reiterated that Google uses sitemaps primarily to:
- Discover new or recently added pages
- Re-crawl content that may have changed
- Understand the structure of large or complex websites
However, none of this affects how your site ranks in search results.
Does the lastmod Field Matter for SEO?
Despite popular belief, Mueller confirmed that updating the lastmod field in an XML sitemap does not signal freshness or relevance to Google’s algorithm. In other words, changing the date won’t trick Google into thinking your content is newer or more relevant than it actually is.
He also pointed out that while including accurate lastmod dates can help you organize your sitemap internally, they offer no direct SEO benefit.
Why You Should Still Keep Your Sitemap Updated
While manipulating dates won’t boost your SEO, maintaining an accurate and up-to-date XML sitemap is still best practice. A properly maintained sitemap helps ensure that:
- New pages get discovered quickly
- Removed or outdated pages aren’t indexed unnecessarily
- Search engines understand the hierarchy and importance of your site’s content
This contributes to better crawl efficiency and indexing, which supports your overall SEO strategy — just not through date manipulation.
Best Practices for XML Sitemaps
Instead of focusing on date changes, here’s what you should prioritize:
- Include all important, indexable URLs
- Exclude duplicate, thin, or low-value pages
- Update the sitemap automatically when new content is published
- Submit the sitemap via Google Search Console
- Break large sitemaps into smaller ones if needed (using a sitemap index)
Final Takeaway
Updating XML sitemap dates may seem like a quick SEO “hack,” but according to John Mueller, it’s time better spent elsewhere. Focus on using sitemaps to guide Google effectively through your site, rather than trying to game the system with artificial updates.
SEO success comes from quality content, technical optimization, and user experience — not from tweaking timestamps in a sitemap.