How to Add Lastmod Dates to Your Sitemap

errorThe Problem

Your sitemap.xml is missing <lastmod> dates on some or all entries. The lastmod field tells search engines when a page was last meaningfully updated. Without it, Google has to guess which pages have new content — and it may not re-crawl recently updated pages as quickly.

trending_upWhy It Matters for SEO

Google uses lastmod dates to prioritize crawling. When you update a product description or fix an SEO issue, the lastmod date signals Google to re-crawl that page sooner. Without it, Google may not notice your changes for weeks. This is especially important for stores with large catalogs where crawl budget is limited.

buildHow to Fix It

1
Shopify auto-generates sitemaps with lastmod dates based on product/page update times.
2
Check your sitemap at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml — lastmod should appear on each entry.
3
If lastmod dates are missing, a third-party SEO app may be overriding Shopify's default sitemap.
4
Check your installed SEO apps for sitemap settings and ensure they include lastmod.
5
If an app is causing the issue, try disabling its sitemap feature to use Shopify's default.

folderN/A (auto-generated)

Check your sitemap at: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

Each entry should look like:
<url>
  <loc>https://yourdomain.com/products/blue-shirt</loc>
  <lastmod>2026-03-15T10:30:00Z</lastmod>
</url>

menu_bookRead Google's official documentationopen_in_new

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