Google: Duplicate URLs In Sitemaps Files Is Normal

Dec 24, 2012 - 8:56 am 7 by

Google SitemapA Google Webmaster Help thread has one SEO nervous that she has multiple sitemaps file but the files have duplication amongst the URLs listed in them.

So she has one sitemap file that may have the same and more URLs listed in them as another sitemap file. She asked if the redundancy is okay or if this can lead to issues.

Google's John Mueller said not only is it okay, it is "normal." John said he pinged the Sitemaps team who said:

This is apparently normal if you submit Sitemap files with the same URLs listed multiple times. Since submitting the same URLs multiple times doesn't change anything with regards to your site's crawling & indexing, I'd just submit it once if you want the correct counts (alternately, if the count doesn't bother you, you can also just leave it like this.

If you think about it, I know many sites that have multiple owners and authorized users of their Google Webmaster Tools. They may have the developer, design, webmaster, owner and then multiple SEO companies. Some of them may submit different sitemap files.

Duplication, is common and Google handles it in this case.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 3, 2025

Jul 3, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Ads

New Google Ads AI Max Search Match Type

Jul 3, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Top Stop Serving Message Assets With Unverified Phone Numbers

Jul 3, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

Similarweb: No Clicks From Google Grew From 56% to 69% Since AI Overviews

Jul 3, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Report: Over 12% Of People Also Ask Results Are Google AI Overviews

Jul 3, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google Maps

Google Tests Local Panel Tab Buttons Under Main Search Bar

Jul 3, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google Now Shows Your Reservations, Orders & Tickets In Search Results