Understanding Sitemap Changefreq & Priority Values

Understanding Sitemap Changefreq & Priority Values

Changefreq (change frequency) is an optional XML sitemap tag that tells search engine crawlers how often a page's content is likely to change. It is defined in the sitemap protocol as a hint — not a command — that helps crawlers schedule revisits. Combined with the priority tag, it provides guidance about which pages matter most and how frequently they should be recrawled.

All Changefreq Values Explained

The sitemap protocol defines seven changefreq values. Each represents an expected update interval for a given URL:

The value always does not guarantee constant crawling — it simply indicates the content is dynamic. Similarly, never does not prevent crawling; it signals that the content is static.

What Is Sitemap Priority?

Sitemap priority is a value between 0.0 and 1.0 that indicates the relative importance of a URL compared to other URLs on the same site. The default value is 0.5. Priority is a site-relative signal — a priority of 1.0 on your site does not mean the page outranks pages on other sites.

Recommended Changefreq and Priority by Page Type

Use these recommended values as a starting point for your sitemap configuration:

Do Search Engines Actually Use Changefreq and Priority?

The honest answer: Google has publicly stated it largely ignores both changefreq and priority values. Google's crawlers determine crawl frequency based on their own observation of how often a page actually changes, not what the sitemap claims. John Mueller confirmed this in multiple statements.

However, other search engines handle these values differently:

• Bing — Has indicated it uses changefreq as one signal among many for crawl scheduling
• Yandex — Actively reads sitemap hints for crawl prioritization
• Smaller crawlers — Many lesser-known search engines and SEO tools rely on sitemap metadata because they lack Google's crawl infrastructure
• AI crawlers — Newer AI training crawlers may respect these signals as they build out their crawling logic

Including changefreq and priority does not hurt anything, and it helps with non-Google crawlers. The cost of adding them is minimal, so they remain a worthwhile inclusion.

How to Set Changefreq Dynamically

Rather than hardcoding changefreq values, calculate them based on actual content update patterns:

1. Track the last modification date — Compare the current date against each page's last update timestamp
2. Calculate update frequency — If a page was updated 3 times in the last 30 days, set changefreq to weekly; if not updated in 6 months, set it to yearly
3. Adjust priority by age and traffic — Pages with recent updates and high traffic deserve higher priority values
4. Automate in your CMS — Most content management systems can generate sitemaps dynamically with computed changefreq values based on edit history

Common Mistakes with Sitemap Frequency Settings

1. Setting everything to "daily" — If your blog post from 2022 has not changed in years, marking it as daily sends a dishonest signal. Crawlers that check this value will learn to distrust your sitemap.
2. Using the same priority for all pages — If every page is 1.0, the signal is meaningless. Priority is relative — it only works when you differentiate between pages.
3. Forgetting lastmod — Changefreq without lastmod is a guess without evidence. Always pair them.
4. Never updating your sitemap — A static sitemap with stale lastmod dates tells crawlers nothing useful. Regenerate your sitemap when content changes.
5. Omitting new pages — New content should appear in your sitemap immediately. Delayed sitemap updates mean delayed discovery.

Sitemap XML Example with Changefreq and Priority

Here is a properly formatted sitemap entry using all optional tags:

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/services/web-design</loc>
  <lastmod>2026-03-10</lastmod>
  <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
  <priority>0.8</priority>
</url>

Related Tools

Generate a complete XML sitemap with proper changefreq, priority, and lastmod values using the XML Sitemap Generator. Pair it with a properly configured robots.txt file that references your sitemap URL so crawlers can find it automatically.