Ghost sitemaps AND fixed Google indexing Issues

#283532
  • Resolved Jurgen Kraus

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rank Math free

    Hi,
    I a recent ticket, I had run into Google indexing issues…the last two weeks worth of blog posts at http://www.audioreviews.org was not indexed by Google.

    I fixed this by:

    1. Deleted additional sitemap and focused on the sitemap generated by rank math.
    2. Slimmed down that sitemap to only authors, pages, and posts: this deleted 2/3 of the URLs from the sitemaps and reduced the number os sub-maps from 13 to 5. Compact now.
    3. Google now reports sitemap referrals properly.
    4. Changed the URLs of some of the problematic posts…but only some.

    Google reacted positively and indexed most posts within 6-8 hours.

    MY QUESTION: there is still a ghost sitemap around that re-directs automatically to the rank math sitemap. How could I get rid of this, or does it matter at all?

    https://imgur.com/AHpxIWa

    Thanks,
    Jürgen

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Anas

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rank Math business

    Hello,

    Thank you for contacting Rank Math.

    If the sitemap.xml is redirected to the sitemap_index.xml, then there is no need to worry about it.

    I checked the sitemap, it is throwing a 404 page.

    Please follow these steps to fix the issue:
    1. Flush the Sitemap cache by following this video screencast:
    https://i.rankmath.com/pipRDp

    2. Exclude the Sitemap files of the Rank Math plugin in your caching plugin. The cache could be via a plugin or from the server. For plugins or Cloudflare, please follow this article:
    https://rankmath.com/kb/exclude-sitemaps-from-caching/

    That should fix the issue. Please let me know if that does not. We are here to assist.

    Jurgen Kraus

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rank Math free

    Done, thanks a bunch. Revised htaccess and W3 Total Cache segments successfully.

    “..Now, check your sitemap to see if it is excluded from cache…”

    How do I check for this? The help article needs some clarification.

    Thanks,
    Jürgen

    Jurgen Kraus

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rank Math free

    “No matter what caching plugin you’re using, make sure to save your changes and empty your cache after you’ve made these changes.”

    Done!

    Reinelle

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Hello,

    I’ve checked your sitemap, and it seems to be working fine now.

    The next step would be removing all the sitemaps submitted in your Google Search Console account and resubmit your main sitemap only /sitemap_index.xml.

    Once done, give Google some time to recrawl your site.

    I hope that helps.

    Thank you.

    Jurgen Kraus

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rank Math free

    Thanks,
    I removed the sitemap and added sitemap_index.xml to the GSC prefix https. This worked for https but did not add a sitemap to the domain. So I submitted the whole thing https://www.audioreviews.org/sitemap_index.xml to the domain.

    Hope that was ok.

    Reinelle

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Hello,

    Yes, you should submit the final version of your website (https). Let us know how it goes or if the issue still persists.

    Meanwhile, please don’t hesitate to contact us anytime if you have other questions to assist you further with anything else.

    Looking forward to helping you.

    Thank you.

    Jurgen Kraus

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rank Math free

    Hi,
    All blog posts have now been indexed and the sitemap works. Should I leave these two in there as is? Both use the same sitemap.

    See image:
    https://imgur.com/Dn6DoVQ

    Do you recommend Google’s indexing API or is it redundant in my case?
    https://rankmath.com/blog/google-indexing-api/

    What we learn from this: Crawled – not indexed…means really nothing other than that it may take Google time to index the crawled page. In my case overnight. It is not an indication that Google does not like the page or the whole site.

    Thanks again,
    The ticket will be close after your next reply.

    Reinelle

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Hello,

    You should only have one property on Google Search Console and it should match exactly the one you have on your website. Upon checking your site, it seems that you’re using the wwww version.

    Please note that Google recommends that you use the Indexing API ONLY for Job Posting and Live Streaming websites. However, you can follow the instructions religiously upon trying the plugin if you wanted to get your site indexed faster.

    I hope that helps.

    Thank you, and please don’t hesitate to contact us anytime if you need further assistance with anything else.

    Jurgen Kraus

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Rank Math free

    Thank you very much Reinelle.

    Reinelle

    4 years, 1 month ago

    Hello,

    You’re welcome.

    We are super happy that we have addressed your concerns. If you have any other questions in the future, know that we are here to help you.

    If you don’t mind us asking, could you please leave us a review (if you haven’t already) on https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/seo-by-rank-math/reviews/#new-post about your overall experience with Rank Math? We appreciate your time and patience.

    If you have another question in the future, please feel free to create a new forum topic, and it will be our pleasure to assist you again.

    Thank you.

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

The ticket ‘Ghost sitemaps AND fixed Google indexing Issues’ is closed to new replies.