Errors Flagged in RankMath Sitemaps - Support

Resolved Hannah Speer
1 year, 6 months ago

Rank Math free

Hello,

I am reaching out to request assistance with errors flagged in my sitemaps that RankMath automatically generates.

https://www.northwood.edu/faculty-sitemap.xml
Google Search Console is reporting 5 errors with invalid URLs. I am attaching screenshot of the line items and information.

https://www.northwood.edu/page-sitemap2.xml
Google Search Console is reporting 1 error with invalid URLs. I am attaching a screenshot of this as well.

https://www.northwood.edu/page-sitemap1.xml
Google Search Console is reporting two non-canonical URLs labeled as “Alternate page with proper canonical tag”. I am attaching a screenshot of those instances.

Any guidance you can provide regarding these issues would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much,
Hannah

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

RankBot
1 year, 6 months ago
Hello,

We apologize for the issues you are facing with the sitemaps generated by Rank Math. Thank you for providing the URLs and details regarding the errors reported in Google Search Console.

Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issues:
1. Validate Your Sitemaps: Use the Validate XML Sitemap tool to check if your sitemaps are correctly configured. This can help identify any structural issues.
2. Check for Custom Canonicals: If you have set custom canonical URLs for your posts, they may not appear in the sitemap. Ensure that all posts intended to be indexed have the default Rank Math canonical set. You can remove any custom canonicals if you want them to show up in the sitemap.
3. Ensure Posts Are Set to Index: Make sure that your posts are set to index. You can check this in Rank Math SEO → Titles & Meta and ensure the Index checkbox is enabled.
4. Flush Permalinks: If you encounter 404 errors, try flushing your permalinks by going to the Permalinks settings in your WordPress dashboard and clicking Save Changes without making any changes.
5. Check Robots.txt: Ensure that your robots.txt file is not blocking access to your sitemaps. You can check this under Rank Math SEO → General Settings → robots.txt.
6. Exclude Sitemap from Caching: If you are using caching plugins, ensure that your sitemap is excluded from caching to keep it updated. You can find more information on how to do this in our tutorial.
If these steps do not resolve the issues, please reply to this ticket with any additional details or screenshots, and a human agent from the Rank Math Support team will assist you further.

Thank you for your patience, and we look forward to helping you resolve these issues!

Sources:
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math
Troubleshooting the “Couldn’t Fetch” Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math
Ike
1 year, 6 months ago
Hello,

Thank you for contacting us. We apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.

It appears you forgot to share the screenshot with us. You can use this tool to share screenshots of the report from GSC with us: https://imgur.com/upload

Please follow the steps below for initial troubleshooting:

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/

If the issue persists then try disabling the transient cache for the sitemap. This will make sure that your XML sitemap always reflects the latest changes on your site. Kindly add this code snippet to your site:
```
/** 
 * Filter if XML sitemap transient cache is enabled.
 *
 * @param boolean $unsigned Enable cache or not, defaults to true
 */
add_filter( 'rank_math/sitemap/enable_caching', '__return_false');
```
If you’re not sure how to add this code, you can follow this guide: https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-hooks-actions-filters/.

After you add the code, please clear any cache on your site or server and check your XML sitemap again. If you’re still facing issues with the sitemap, please let us know – we are happy to investigate further.
Hannah Speer
1 year, 6 months ago

Rank Math free

Hi Ike,

Thank you so much for your response, here is a link to the screenshots, my apologies for failing to include them before.

https://imgur.com/a/TrKzch7

Thanks,
Hannah

Reinelle
1 year, 6 months ago

Hello,

There seems to be an issue with the URLs in your sitemap. You can also notice there were blank entries, which is causing the error in your GSC.

Please follow the previous steps we have shared to flush your sitemap cache.

If the issue persists, assuming you are using the latest version of all the plugins and the themes (please update if not yet), this can be caused by conflicting plugins/theme on your site.

To determine that, please follow this troubleshooting guide:
https://rankmath.com/kb/check-plugin-conflicts/

Here is a video you can follow as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcIWRhcUP2c

Only the site admin would know and your users won’t be affected by this troubleshooting.

Let us know how this goes.

RankBot
1 year, 5 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 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The ticket ‘Errors Flagged in RankMath Sitemaps’ is closed to new replies.