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Hi there, I’m not able to submit a sitemap via Google Search Console for the website I’ve designed sosidband.com due to robots.txt issue, is this something you guys can help me with? I’ve already gone to my hosting provider (Siteground)’s support and they have said I have done everything correct and can’t see what the issue may be and I mentioned I use RankMath and they have suggested I speak with you. I’ve never come across this before on many other sites I use and I’ve noticed the other day on Google when Googling for the site in question (sosidband.com) underneath the link in the description it just says ‘there is no information for this site’ when I’ve definitely set descriptions/seo setup via your plugin as usual, checking today it looks as though it’s finally come through which is good, however the sitemap still isn’t working, further info on this below:
It’s been roughly 3 weeks since I set all the RankMath info. and launched the site, I found out the sitemap was never successful so really need help with this if you can help. I’ve never touched anything to do with robots.txt by the way if this is the issue! I tried resubmitting the sitemap via Google Search Console again on the 2nd October and checking today it still isn’t saying ‘success’ it is instead saying ‘could not fetch’ still. Usually it takes seconds for this to be submitted successfully so I’m really concerned, please help. Many thanks, Tom
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Hello,
We apologize for the issue you are facing with your sitemap not being fetched in Google Search Console for your website sosidband.com. It sounds like you’ve already taken some steps to troubleshoot this, and we appreciate you reaching out for assistance.
The "Couldn’t fetch" error can often be related to issues with the sitemap or the robots.txt file. Here are some steps you can take to resolve this:
1. Validate Your Sitemap
Make sure your sitemap is correctly configured. You can validate it using the Validate XML Sitemap tool. If there are no issues detected, you should see a success message.
2. Check Your Robots.txt File
Since you mentioned that you haven’t touched the robots.txt file, it’s worth checking if there are any rules that might be blocking Google from accessing your sitemap. You can view and edit your robots.txt file through Rank Math by going to Rank Math SEO → General Settings → Edit robots.txt.
3. Ensure the Sitemap is in the Root Folder
Make sure your sitemap is located in the root folder of your WordPress installation. The correct URL should look like this:
`https://rankmath.com/kb/fix-sitemap-issues/4. Add the Sitemap to Google Search Console
Once you’ve confirmed that everything is set up correctly, go back to Google Search Console and navigate to Indexing → Sitemaps. Paste your sitemap URL in the Add a new sitemap field and click SUBMIT. Make sure there are no spaces in the URL.
5. Wait for Google to Fetch the Sitemap
If you’ve done all of the above and it still shows "Couldn’t fetch," it may just take some time for Google to fetch it. Sometimes, Google can take longer than expected to process sitemaps.
If you continue to experience issues after following these steps, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from our support team will assist you further. Thank you for your patience, and we hope this helps resolve your issue!
Sources:
Troubleshooting the “Couldn’t Fetch” Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math
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