Hello,
We apologize for the issue you are facing with your internal sitemaps returning a 404 error. Since your main sitemap is working, it indicates that the sitemap module is enabled, but there may be some server configuration issues causing the internal sitemaps to not load properly.
Here are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve this issue:
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Check Server Configuration: If you are using an Apache server, ensure that your .htaccess file has the correct rewrite rules for Rank Math sitemaps. You can add the following code to your .htaccess file:
# START of Rank Math Sitemap Rewrite Rules
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^sitemap_index.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=1 [L]
RewriteRule ^([^/]+?)-sitemap([0-9]+)?.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=$1&sitemap_n=$2 [L]
RewriteRule ^([a-z]+)?-?sitemap.xsl$ /index.php?xsl=$1 [L]
# END of Rank Math Sitemap Rewrite Rules
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For Nginx Users: If you are using Nginx, ensure that your configuration file includes the following rewrite rules:
# START Nginx Rewrites for Rank Math Sitemaps
rewrite ^/sitemap_index.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=1 last;
rewrite ^/([^/]+?)-sitemap([0-9]+)?.xml$ /index.php?sitemap=$1&sitemap_n=$2 last;
rewrite ^/([a-z]+)?-sitemap.xsl$ /index.php?xsl=$1 last;
# END Nginx Rewrites for Rank Math Sitemaps
-
Flush Permalinks: Sometimes, simply flushing the permalinks can resolve issues. Go to WordPress Dashboard → Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes without making any changes.
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Check for Plugin Conflicts: Ensure that there are no conflicting plugins that might be affecting the sitemap functionality. You can use the Health Check plugin to help identify any conflicts.
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Validate Your Sitemap: Use the Validate XML Sitemap tool to check if your sitemap is correctly configured.
If these steps do not resolve the issue, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from the Rank Math Support team will assist you further.
Thank you for raising this concern!
Sources:
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math
Troubleshooting the “Couldn’t Fetch” Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.
We deeply apologize for the unexpected delay in response. This ticket seems to have been stuck in our drafts section for some reason.
It looks like you’re currently using the Yoast SEO plugin on your website. Could you please try to install the Rank Math plugin again so that we can check the issue further for you?
Looking forward to helping you.
Thank you.
Hello, thank you for your attention and help.
I put Rank Math back on.
I tried all the solutions above, none worked.
The strangest thing is that the problem also occurred in two other projects I have.
https://meuvisaosaude.com.br/sitemap_index.xml
https://elleveplastica.com.br/sitemap_index.xml
If necessary, I can share access too.
Thank you very much!
Hello,
The issue here is that your posts and pages are set to noindex in the robots meta as you can see in the screenshot here:
Our plugin doesn’t include pages/posts that are set to noindex which is why no posts or pages are included in the “internal” sitemap, hence the 404 page when you visit it.
We checked your settings and it appears your website is currently hidden from the search engines:
In this case, you have to disable that option and Rank Math should generate the sitemaps.
Hope that helps.
success. thank you very much for the help
Hello,
We are super happy that this resolved your issue. If you have any other questions in the future, know that we are here to help you.
If you don’t mind me asking, could you please leave us a review (if you haven’t already) on https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/seo-by-rank-math/reviews/#new-post about your overall experience with Rank Math? We appreciate your time and patience.
If you do have another question in the future, please feel free to create a new forum topic, and it will be our pleasure to assist you again.
Thank you.
