WordPress And The Sitemap Frequency Field

XML sitemaps support optional fields: changefreq (how often the page changes), priority (relative importance). These were heavily emphasized in early sitemap documentation; in 2026, they matter less than they did.

Google's official position: changefreq and priority are largely ignored. The lastmod field is the relevant signal.

What lastmod does

The lastmod field shows when the URL last changed meaningfully. Search engines use this to prioritize re-crawling.

Accurate lastmod helps crawlers focus on actually-changed content. Inaccurate lastmod (claiming changes that didn't happen) dilutes the signal.

What changefreq doesn't do

Despite the name, changefreq doesn't tell Google when to crawl. Google decides crawl frequency based on its own signals and history.

Setting changefreq to "daily" doesn't make Google crawl daily. The field is informational.

What priority doesn't do

The priority field (0.0 to 1.0) doesn't affect ranking. It's not a ranking signal.

Setting all your pages to 1.0 priority doesn't make them rank higher. Google determines importance from other signals.

The practical implication

WordPress SEO plugins typically include changefreq and priority by default. The fields exist but don't significantly affect SEO.

Don't spend optimization effort on these fields. Focus on lastmod accuracy and the actual content the sitemap references.

The honest framing

Sitemap fields beyond lastmod are largely vestigial. The fields exist; modern search engines ignore them mostly.

Focus optimization elsewhere. The cumulative effect of obsessing over these fields is zero.