Category no-index issues

#264534
  • Resolved Nathan Smith

    3 years, 3 months ago

    Rank Math free

    Hi, I have a question regarding my category no-index process.

    Recently I have found out that people recommend no-indexing categories and tags. I followed some available instructions on this forum and finished no-indexing my categories through RankMath settings.

    However, Neil Patel in this article said that we should also filter out the categories from XML sitemap, because if we no-index them but still keep them in the sitemap, that would be considered “teasing Google bots”.

    I want to hear from RankMath technical experts. From your perspective, what do you think? Is it really necessary to eliminate the category in the XML sitemap, too? If so, how can I do it effectively and safely?

    Thanks in advance.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Jeremy

    3 years, 3 months ago

    Hello,

    Thank you for contacting Rank Math support today and bringing your concern to our attention.

    Yes, if a taxonomy page is set to noindex, it should be excluded from the sitemap.

    You can disable the category sitemap under Rank Math > Sitemap Settings > Taxonomies > Categories:
    https://i.rankmath.com/n1DdtM

    After doing so, please these steps to refresh your sitemap.

    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/

    Let us know how it goes. Looking forward to helping you.

    Nathan Smith

    3 years, 3 months ago

    Rank Math free

    Hi, thanks so much for your help. I have successfully completed all the steps above, including disabling the category taxonomy in sitemap settings, flushing the sitemap cache and excluding sitemap files from WP rocket.

    However, when I clicked on my sitemap link in the RankMath plugin, it resulted in a 404 page. Is it normal?

    https://prnt.sc/1tje456
    https://prnt.sc/1tjec19

    Jaideep Asrani

    3 years, 3 months ago

    Hello,

    I can check that your sitemap is working fine now:

    Please clear the cache of your site & browser and check again.

    Let us know if the issue persists.

    Thanks.

    Nathan Smith

    3 years, 3 months ago

    Rank Math free

    Thanks for your support. Really appreciate that.

    Jeremy

    3 years, 3 months ago

    Hello,

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

    If you don’t mind me 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 do 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 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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