Sitemap Not Updating & 404 Errors in Google Search Console

#958665
  • Resolved Jaxon Taylor

    7 months ago

    Rank Math free

    Hi Rank Math Support,

    We are facing issues with our sitemap and indexing in Google Search Console. Below are the specific problems:

    Issues Faced:
    Sitemap Not Updating: New pages are not being added automatically to the sitemap.
    404 Errors in Sitemap: Some URLs within the sitemap return a 404 error when accessed.
    Google Unable to Fetch Sitemap: /page-sitemap2.xml is showing an error in Google Search Console.
    Sitemap Not Being Read Properly: Some pages in the sitemap are being ignored or not indexed correctly.
    Possible robots.txt Issue: We checked robots.txt, and it does not seem to block the sitemap, but Google is not fetching some pages.
    Google Search console

    Troubleshooting Steps Taken:
    Regenerated Sitemap via Rank Math settings.
    Cleared Cache (WordPress, CDN, Cloudflare).
    Checked Robots.txt to ensure it’s not blocking the sitemap.
    Resubmitted Sitemap in Google Search Console.
    Checked for Plugin Conflicts by disabling other SEO-related plugins.
    Re-saved Permalinks to refresh the URL structure.
    Despite these steps, the issue is still not resolved. Can you please help us identify the cause and provide a solution?

    Looking forward to your response.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • RankBot

    7 months ago

    Hello,

    We apologize for the issues you are facing with your sitemap and indexing in Google Search Console. Thank you for providing detailed information about the problems and the troubleshooting steps you’ve already taken.

    Here are some suggestions to help resolve the issues:

    1. Sitemap Not Updating

    • Flush the Cache: Ensure that your sitemap is not being cached. You can do this by navigating to Rank Math SEO → Sitemap Settings and increasing the value of Links Per Sitemap by one, then save your settings. After that, go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes to apply the current settings.

    Increase links per sitemap

    2. 404 Errors in Sitemap

    • Check Sitemap URL: Make sure that the URLs listed in your sitemap are correct and accessible. You can validate your sitemap using the Validate XML Sitemap tool.
    • Flush Permalinks: If you encounter 404 errors, try flushing permalinks by going to Settings → Permalinks and clicking Save Changes.

    3. Google Unable to Fetch Sitemap

    • Correct Sitemap URL: Ensure that you are submitting the correct sitemap URL to Google Search Console. The correct format should be https://yourdomainname.com/sitemap_index.xml.
    • Check for Caching Issues: Make sure your sitemap is excluded from caching. You can refer to this article on how to ensure that your sitemaps are excluded from caching.

    4. Sitemap Not Being Read Properly

    • Check Robots.txt: Double-check your robots.txt file to ensure it does not contain any rules that might block Google from accessing your sitemap or specific pages.
    • Custom Canonicals: If you have set custom canonical URLs for your posts, they may not appear in the sitemap. Consider removing them if you want all posts to be included.

    5. Additional Steps

    • Plugin Conflicts: Since you’ve already checked for plugin conflicts, ensure that no other plugins are interfering with Rank Math’s functionality.
    • Check Server Configuration: Sometimes server settings can affect how sitemaps are served. Ensure that your server is configured correctly to handle XML sitemaps.

    If these steps do not resolve the issues, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from the Rank Math Support team will take over and assist you further.

    We appreciate your patience and look forward to helping you resolve these issues!

    Sources:
    Troubleshooting the “Couldn’t Fetch” Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math
    Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math

    Adetayo

    7 months ago

    Hello,

    Thank you for contacting us and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.

    Please try to follow the steps below and see if that works for you.

    1. Flush the Sitemap cache by following this video screencast:
    https://i.rankmath.com/pipRDp

    2. Exclude the Sitemap files of the Rank Math plugin in your 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. If the above steps don’t seem to work, kindly apply the following filter to your site.

    add_filter( 'rank_math/sitemap/enable_caching', '__return_false');

    Here’s how you can add filter/hook to your WordPress site:
    https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-hooks-actions-filters/

    Once done, please clear your website cache and check the sitemap.

    Let us know how it goes. We look forward to hearing from you.

    Thank you.

    RankBot

    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 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The ticket ‘Sitemap Not Updating & 404 Errors in Google Search Console’ is closed to new replies.