Ongoing Issues with sitemap-index.xml

#900343
  • Resolved MD Rakibul Alom

    1 year, 3 months ago

    Rank Math free

    Hi Team,

    I am writing to express my concern regarding the sitemap-index.xml file. Every few hours, it starts showing 404 errors. I have to change some settings and save the file again to function correctly, but the same issue reoccurs soon after. I’m worried about how this affects the SEO of our websites, as this problem is more than just one site; all of our websites experience the same issue.

    Unfortunately, I cannot send this message from my official company account. I previously recommended using RankMath for the company, but if these issues keep arising, it significantly complicates matters. Please avoid discussing cache plugins or related topics, as this issue relates to your plugin. I’ve been using RankMath for three years, and while it worked without problems in the past, I’ve noticed these errors cropping up in the last couple of months. Furthermore, Google Search Console has been unable to crawl our pages via the sitemap.xml.

    I installed RankMath and used 100+ websites. Example:
    https://www.rivasassociates.com/sitemap-index.xml
    https://hammacklawfirm.com/sitemap-index.xml
    https://hedayatilaw.com/sitemap-index.xml

    All the websites have the same problem. If this issue continues, I will stop using RankMath and will not recommend it again.

    I believe this is a widespread issue that others might also be facing. They may have already reported it, but it must still be solved.

    Please address this matter, as it is crucial for our SEO efforts.

    Thank you.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • RankBot

    1 year, 3 months ago

    Hello,

    We apologize for the ongoing issues you are facing with the sitemap-index.xml file. It sounds frustrating to deal with 404 errors repeatedly, especially when it impacts multiple websites and your SEO efforts.

    To address the 404 error with the sitemap, we recommend flushing your permalinks. This can often resolve issues related to sitemap accessibility. Here’s how you can do it:

    1. Go to your WordPress admin area.
    2. Navigate to Settings → Permalinks.
    3. Click the Save Changes button, even if you didn’t make any changes on the page.

    Flush permalink settings

    If this does not resolve the issue, please check if your server configuration is set up correctly for handling sitemaps. For Apache servers, ensure that the necessary rewrite rules are added to your .htaccess file. For Nginx servers, similar rewrite rules should be added to your Nginx configuration file. You can find more details on this in our Sitemap Issues article.

    Additionally, if you are experiencing this issue across multiple sites, it may be beneficial to check for any common server settings or configurations that could be affecting all of them.

    If the problem persists after trying these solutions, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from the Rank Math Support team will take over and assist you further.

    Thank you for bringing this concern to our attention, and we appreciate your patience as we work to resolve it. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we hope to improve your experience with Rank Math.

    Sources:
    Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math

    Jeremy

    1 year, 3 months ago

    Hello,

    Thank you for your query and we are so sorry about the trouble this must have caused.

    Based on how you describe the issue, this seems to be related to caching and although this is commonly happening, there are simple steps to follow to make sure your sitemap is constantly running fine.

    Please follow the steps below:

    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/

    3. Apply the following filter code to your site.

    
add_filter( 'rank_math/sitemap/enable_caching', '__return_false');

    Here’s how you can add filter to your WordPress site:https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-hooks-actions-filters/

    Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any other questions.

    RankBot

    1 year, 2 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 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The ticket ‘Ongoing Issues with sitemap-index.xml’ is closed to new replies.