Should I delete my old sitemap URL?

#387230
  • Resolved Dw

    2 years, 7 months ago

    Rank Math free

    Hi,

    I stopped using the Google XML Sitemaps plugin since it has been discontinued totally from WordPress and now, I am using RankMath’s sitemap feature instead.

    But I want to know, should I delete the old sitemap URL in the Google Search Console, or should I add a new sitemap URL in there?

    Because the old sitemap URL goes like this…

    http://www.mywebsite.com/sitemap.xml

    But in RankMath the sitemap URL goes like this…

    https://www.mywebsite.com/sitemap_index.xml

    And now, the old sitemap URL redirects to the new sitemap URL automatically. I guess RankMath is the one redirecting it.

    So in Google Search Console, it still shows the old sitemap URL and NOT the new URL.

    So is there a way to add or change the old sitemap URL to the new one?

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

    2 years, 7 months ago

    Hello,

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

    Yes, please remove your submitted sitemaps by heading over to your Sitemaps, selecting the sitemaps you have previously added, and clicking the button “Remove Sitemap”:

    sitemap

    After that, submit only the primary sitemap “sitemap_index.xml”. You may follow this guide: https://rankmath.com/kb/submit-sitemap-to-google/

    I hope that helps.

    Thank you.

    Dw

    2 years, 7 months ago

    Rank Math free

    Hi again,

    Will there be any hit on my SERP rankings if I were to remove the old sitemap plugin (Google XML Sitemaps)?

    Because I noticed on a site where I tested this (deleting off the old sitemap plugin and replace it with RankMath’s sitemap feature), that on my old SERP ranking for a keyword, there used to be an image that Google displayed beside it, and now, that image is gone.

    Meanwhile, Google has already downloaded all my URLs in the RankMath sitemap and everything looks ok in the Google Search Console.

    However, I am not sure if there will be some hits to my SERPs or not as a result of removing the old sitemap URL/plugin and replacing it with the new sitemap URL and new plugin (Rankmath).

    I will keep monitoring, but I wonder if there is any other way to swap them out “seamlessly”?

    Jeremy

    2 years, 7 months ago

    Hello,

    Switching sitemap may indeed cause a change in your ranking but in a good way. If the sitemap structure is configured correctly similar to the old one, then this might be just temporary and the image might come back to the SERP after a couple of weeks or even months.

    Do note that we don’t have any control over how images in the SERP results are displayed and search engines display them as per their will and it mostly depends on the keyword search term and the website authority. You can try to add relevant ALT text to the featured image and chances are search engines will refer to it.

    Hope that helps and please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.

    RankBot

    2 years, 6 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 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The ticket ‘Should I delete my old sitemap URL?’ is closed to new replies.