Couldn’t fetch Sitemap – Issue

#996604
  • Lubna Pathan

    4 days, 19 hours ago

    Rank Math free

    We are having some trouble with our pages being indexed. The sitemap that we generated with Rankmath keeps failing on Google search console. We constantly have to go back and re-submit the sitemap to get the success. Once the entire sitemap get’s indexed, after a while few of the pages like post-index or page-index shows the error – Couldn’t fetch sitemap. The pages which were successfully indexed on Google also gets removed and cannot be found on Google anymore. Also, we are still unable to see the favicon of our website on Google.
    On Bing, none of our pages seem to be indexed. Webmaster tools shows the error Discovered but Cannot crawl. Can you tell us why this is happening? We used Rankmath’s indexnow api to get the pages indexed but no success.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • RankBot

    4 days, 19 hours ago

    Hello,

    We apologize for the issues you are facing with your sitemap and indexing. It sounds quite frustrating. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the "Couldn’t fetch" error in Google Search Console:

    1. Rename the Sitemap File

    Sometimes, changing the name of the sitemap file can help. In Google Search Console, navigate to Indexing → Sitemaps and add a new sitemap using the following format:

    https://yourdomain.com/?sitemap=1

    Rename the sitemap file

    2. Fix Sitemap Issues

    • Validate Your Sitemap: Use the Validate XML Sitemap tool to check if your sitemap is correctly configured.

    An example displaying how to validate a sitemap

    • Ensure the Sitemap is Located in the Root Folder: Make sure your sitemap is in the root folder of your WordPress installation, like this:
      https://yourdomainname.com/sitemap_index.xml

    • Check Post Indexing Settings: Ensure that your posts are set to index. Go to Rank Math SEO → Titles & Meta and enable the Index checkbox.

    Index Titles and Meta settings

    • Flush the Cache: Increase the value of Links Per Sitemap by one in Rank Math SEO → Sitemap Settings, then save changes. Also, go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes.

    Flush Permalinks

    3. Add the Correct Version of Your Sitemap to Google Search Console

    Make sure you have added the correct URL variation of your site in Google Search Console. You can check this in your WordPress dashboard under Settings → General.

    Site Address in WordPress

    4. Check for Caching Issues

    Ensure that your sitemap is not being cached by any caching plugins or server-side caching. You can refer to this article on ensuring that your sitemaps are excluded from caching.

    5. Favicon Visibility on Google

    For the favicon issue, ensure that it is correctly set up in your website’s settings and that it is accessible publicly.

    6. Bing Indexing Issues

    For Bing, if you are seeing "Discovered but Cannot Crawl," it may be due to similar issues with your sitemap or site accessibility. Ensure that your site is not blocking Bing’s crawlers and that your sitemap is submitted correctly.

    If you continue to experience these issues after trying these steps, please reply to this ticket with your site URL so we can assist you further. A human agent will take over from there.

    Thank you for raising this concern, and we hope these steps help resolve your issues!

    Sources:
    Troubleshooting the “Couldn’t Fetch” Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math

    This is an automated reply from Rank Math Support Bot. Your ticket has been assigned to a human agent and we will get back to you shortly.

    Lubna Pathan

    1 day, 20 hours ago

    Rank Math free

    Hey there, we still cannot get Bing to process our pages and index them. On google only some of our pages are being indexed. Our important pages have not yet been indexed by Google even though they are discovered. What might be causing this? We have also tried using your Indexnow API but still Bing will not index them.

    We launched this site last week. Is this a time thing and do we just need to wait it out?

    Reinelle

    1 day, 17 hours ago

    Hello,

    If a URL is on Google, there is technically no reason for it to not be included in Bing or other search engines, unless they have some reason to not index a page like DMCA, copyright content, nulled content, copied content, etc. which you can check in Webmaster Guidelines set by Bing.

    Also, you should run the affected URL/s using the URL inspection tool of your GSC account to know their status.

    You can also share the screenshot of the results here so we can check. You can upload screenshots using this tool and add the link here.

    Looking forward to helping you.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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