Hello,
Thank you for contacting Rank Math, and sorry for any inconvenience caused.
The couldn’t fetch error, is in most cases simply due to a bug in the Search Console.
However, I checked the sitemap URLs with https://httpstatus.io/, and two variations of the sitemap are returning 200 status.
Please follow this guide and redirect to a final variation:
https://rankmath.com/kb/couldnt-fetch-error-google-search-console/#num-5-4-redirect-all-three-other-versions-to-your-preferred-variation
Once done, clear your website cache and remove all the sitemaps and submit the sitemap_index.xml in the Search Console.
Hope that helps.
Thank you.
Hi Anas,
Thanks for your reply. I’ve tried to redirect using the guide link that you provided. But once I made changes to my .htaccess file, my site was no longer working. When I removed the code mentioned in the guide, it started working again. I have cleared cache, removed sitemaps, and submitted again. But again the same error occurred in the Google Console. So, what should I do now?
Hello,
In this case, you may need to get in touch with your web host to apply the redirection of the WWW to the non-www version of your site correctly.
We also have a guide for redirecting the final version of your site, but your web host is in a better position to assist you with this.
Looking forward to helping you.
Thank you.
I don’t understand why I need to redirect? It’s already redirecting to only “https” version.
When I submitted “sitemap.xml” to my Google Search Console, it was submitted successfully. But when I submit “sitemap_index.xml” the main path is successfully fetched, but the sub-paths like posts, pages, etc. are giving error “Couldn’t fetch”.
When I try to search bloggali.com/sitemap.xml it always redirects to sitemap_index.xml version. Why is that happening?
Hello,
Can you please click on a sub-sitemap in the sitemap section of your GSC account and share the details about the couldn’t fetch error? You can use a tool like https://imgbb.com/ to share the screenshots.
And the sitemap.xml is redirected to the correct URL of our sitemap(sitemap_index.xml) to make sure that there is only one working sitemap URL.
Looking forward to helping you.
Here is the screenshot
https://ibb.co/W2QpMfF
Hello,
I checked and your sitemaps are loading properly. However, upon accessing the sitemap as Googlebot, I received a 403 Forbidden error. Here’s a screenshot for a quick reference: https://i.rankmath.com/pc6Yhn
The same error is returned in all your sitemaps. This is likely the reason for the error you’re getting on Google Search Console as Googlebot is unable to access the sitemaps.
Please get in touch with your web host and ensure that Googlebot is not blocked from accessing the sitemaps.
Once done, please follow the below steps and see if that helps:
1. Flush the Sitemap cache by following this video screencast:
https://i.rankmath.com/pipRDp
2. Please exclude the Sitemap files of Rank Math from the 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. Clear your website’s cache and remove all the sitemaps from your Google Search Console account, and then submit only the main sitemap: /sitemap_index.xml
Here’s a guide with more details: https://rankmath.com/kb/submit-sitemap-to-google/
Further, give Google some time to crawl your website again and see if that helps.
Let us know how that goes.
Thank you.
Hello,
I’ve contacted my hosting provider and requested them to check whether Googlebot is blocked or not.
However, there is one more issue. You send me a video link to flush sitemap cache, but the option is not showing in my dashboard. Here is the screenshot:
https://ibb.co/s3F025c
Please let me know where this option is as it’s not showing in my sitemap settings under Rankmath as shown in the video. Thanks!
Hello,
It seems like Easy Mode is selected in the plugin. Please follow this guide to switch to the Advanced Mode and see if the option shows: https://rankmath.com/kb/switch-from-easy-to-advanced-mode/
Let us know how that goes.
Thank you.
Hello,
Thanks I swithced to the advanced mode and the option is shown. I’ve also contacted my hosting providers and they are still working on detecting the issue. They also faced a 403 error as you mentioned.
I want to ask one more question. If they are unable to resolve early and I decide to change my hosting provider, will changing hosting help in fixing the issue?
Hello,
If the root cause of the issue is coming from your server, then changing your web host should fix this issue.
However, we recommend waiting for their final say about this issue so we can confirm that as well.
Meanwhile, please don’t hesitate to contact us anytime if you have other questions to assist you further.
Looking forward to helping you.
Thank you.
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.
