Hello,
I apologize for the issue you are facing with your sitemap not being read by Google Search Console. The error message "Sitemap could not be read" indicating a General HTTP error can be frustrating.
To address this issue, you can follow these steps:
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Check Sitemap URL: Ensure that you have submitted the correct XML sitemap URL to Google. The correct URL should be https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-hooks-actions-filters/#rank-math-php-file.
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Plugin Conflict: Check for any plugin conflicts using the Health Check plugin as suggested in our documentation.
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Cache Exclusion: If you are using W3 Total Cache along with Rank Math, create a user agent group and add the ‘_googlebot’ user agent to it.
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Filter in rank-math.php file: If the above steps don’t resolve the issue, you can add a filter in your theme’s rank-math.php file. This step involves adding a specific line of code to disable sitemap caching.
If you are unsure how to add this filter to your theme’s rank-math.php file, you can reach out to your theme developer or a developer familiar with WordPress themes for assistance. Alternatively, you can provide access to your WordPress dashboard, and our support team can assist you further.
If you encounter any difficulties or need further clarification, please feel free to ask. Thank you for reaching out, and we are here to help you resolve this issue.
Best regards.
Sources:
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math
Why the Sitemap_Index.xml is Throwing a 404 Error » Rank Math
How to Fix "Incorrect HTTP Header Content-Type" Error in Sitemaps » Rank Math
Hi,
As mentioned above, I have tried the steps that your Support Bot has suggested but it has not resolved. I am unclear how to do step 4 that suggest: “If the above steps don’t resolve the issue, consider adding the following filter in your theme’s rank-math.php file:”
What is this and how do I add to this file?
Thanks,
Carly
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Rank Math support.
Your site or server’s firewall is blocking Googlebot from accessing the sitemap:
Please get in touch with your host and ask them to whitelist Googlebot to fix the issue.
Let us know how that goes. Looking forward to helping you.
Hi there,
Thank you for your response. I spoke with my host and they have advised the following:
“Our hosting implements a Rate Limit specifically for bots. This rate limit is designed to control the number of times bots can crawl the website within a given period. If a bot exceeds this predefined limit, our firewall is programmed to automatically block further access. But this will not hamper the actual indexing of your website.”
So, I am not sure whether this Firewall would be the issue?
What do you think? Could it be another issue meaning that my sitemap cannot be read?
Thanks,
Carly
Hello,
If your host blocks Googlebot from accessing the sitemap, it can affect the indexing of your site since Google will not be able to discover the new URLs from the sitemap. You should ask them to exclude the Googlebot to make sure Google is able to discover new URLs.
Please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.
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.
