Sitemap not updating after hacker attack

#126759
  • Resolved Wop Wop

    4 years ago

    Rank Math free

    Hello,
    i got my websiste hacked on 24 and on 25 (yes, cool day isn’t it?) I fixed my website but in the meanwhile the hacker sent with search console almost 1000 links to be indexed.

    Now I see my site:myurl with +800 links that are not of mine and I already marked them with 410 error.

    The problem is now when I send the sitemap sitemap_index.xml because is showing 530.000 urls when indeed are inside 3 sitemap with maxiumum of 50 urls (posts,category,pages).

    For now I’m sending only those 3 separted sitemap to google but I have no idea on how to fix my main sitemap. I already cleaned all the cache with cloudflare and wp rocket but nothing, still showing the search console that I have 530.000 urls on that sitemap.

    I was thinking than, maybe to change (but is not possible) the sitemap_index.xml ? Or what do you advice? thanks a lot.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Jeremy

    4 years ago

    Hello,

    Thank you for contacting the support, and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.

    I am sorry to hear that your website had been hacked. There is no need to change your sitemap page in your case. Although we do need to do a few things to resolve your issue:

    1. I assume that you have read this article to completely exclude Rank Math Sitemaps from caching: https://rankmath.com/kb/exclude-sitemaps-from-caching/. If not yet, please refer to that article.

    2. Make sure you are using the latest version or Rank Math plugin. For your reference, v1.0.55 is the latest version of Rank Math Free.

    3. Flush the sitemap cache through Rank Math settings by heading to your WordPress Dashboard > Rank Math (enable Advanced Mode) > Sitemap Settings > General. Please see video screencast here: https://i.rankmath.com/JyteZO

    4. If any of the above won’t solve your issue, please disable and enable Rank Math sitemap module:
    Sitemap Module

    Let me know how it goes on your end.

    Looking forward to helping you. Thank you.

    Wop Wop

    4 years ago

    Rank Math free

    Hello,
    I did all the process you described, and I already did it before… Nothing to do, on search console the main siteam showing completly wrong number of urls.

    Michael Davis

    4 years ago

    Rank Math pro

    Hello,

    Thank you for the follow up.

    First I would like you to know that your sitemap is still being cached, here is a screenshot: https://i.rankmath.com/yA7DAM. It seems to be by your server, in this case you will need to get in touch with your host to ensure Rank math sitemap file on your site are not cached.

    That said, these type of issues usually occur due to the usage of outdated plugins and themes. You have to start by deleting these pages if they exist on your site otherwise they will keep coming back.

    Here is a guide on how to clean up your website:
    https://sucuri.net/guides/how-to-clean-hacked-wordpress/

    and how to secure your web server: https://mythemeshop.com/blog/web-server-security/

    and secure your WordPress:
    https://mythemeshop.com/blog/wordpress-security-tips/

    You should also consider deleting the property from your google account and verifying under a different account and resubmit your sitemap again.

    Hope that helps and please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.

    Wop Wop

    4 years ago

    Rank Math free

    Hello,
    I already added this funciont of not being cached the sitemap on wp rocket like here http://prntscr.com/wc9vdk

    Besides now I added even on cloudflare page rule to bypass cache of
    *.mysite.com/sitemap_index.xml

    Still not going can you please recheck?

    Michael Davis

    4 years ago

    Rank Math pro

    Hello,

    What do you mean by still not going ?

    If it’s the sitemap on Google, please ensure you are only submitting the main sitemap URL(sitemap_index.xml).

    If you mean the URLs are still there on your search Console, please consider my suggestion to move and verify your property to on new Google account then resubmit your sitemap file

    If the issue still persists, please try and use a 3rd party sitemap plugin to confirm if the issue is coming from Google. Just make sure you have disabled the Sitemap module of Rank Math in WordPress Dashboard > Rank Math > Dashboard when using a 3rd party sitemap plugin.

    If the other plugin works, please do let us know.

    Thank you.

    Wop Wop

    4 years ago

    Rank Math free

    there is any way to change the sitemap_index url? And besides if i’ll and on search console the three separated sitemap (post,category,page) without sitemap_index is not a good way of seo and all?

    Michael Davis

    4 years ago

    Rank Math pro

    Hello,

    I am sorry but you cannot change the sitemap URL as this automatically generated by Rank math according to your site URL and permalink settings.

    We usually recommend only submitting the main sitemap as other sitemaps will be crawled from this. If you are having an issue with this however, you can try submitting the individual sitemaps to see if that fixes your issue.

    Hope this helps you.

    RankBot

    3 years, 11 months ago

    Hello,

    Since we did not hear back from you for 15 days, we are assuming that you found the solution. We are closing this support ticket.

    If you still need assistance or any other help, please feel free to open a new support ticket, and we will be more than happy to assist.

    Thank you.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

The ticket ‘Sitemap not updating after hacker attack’ is closed to new replies.