Unfortunately, this issue is not related to the sitemaps themselves, instead it’s related to the HTML in your site. However, I’ll attempt to provide some guidance.
The error you’re seeing in Google Search Console, “Missing field ‘item’ (in ‘itemListElement’)”, indicates a problem with the structured data for breadcrumbs on your website. Breadcrumbs are a type of structured data that help Google understand and represent the page in search results regarding its position within the hierarchy of your site. They can appear in both Google Search results and Google News.
Here’s how you can address this issue:Understanding the Error
- Structured Data Type: Breadcrumbs structured data uses the
BreadcrumbList schema from Schema.org. The error is related to the itemListElement property, which should contain an item property.
- Missing
item Field: Each itemListElement needs to include an item property that contains at least a name (the text of the breadcrumb) and an id or url (which points to the webpage of the breadcrumb).
How to Fix the Issue
- Review Your Breadcrumb Schema: Check the structured data implementation on the affected pages. Ensure that each breadcrumb link in the
BreadcrumbList is properly structured with all required properties.
- Correct the Schema: Make sure every
itemListElement in your breadcrumbs includes an item property with the following sub-properties:@id or url: The URL of the breadcrumb page.name: The name of the breadcrumb page as it should appear in search results.
Here’s an example of correct breadcrumb JSON-LD structured data:jsonCopy code{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [{ "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@id": "https://example.com/books", "name": "Books" } },{ "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@id": "https://example.com/books/fiction", "name": "Fiction" } }] }
- Validate Your Fix: Use the Rich Results Test tool provided by Google to validate your corrected structured data. This tool will help you check if Google can now correctly parse your breadcrumbs.
- Update Your Pages: Once the structured data is corrected, update your pages and resubmit them through Google Search Console for indexing.
- Monitor Google Search Console: Keep an eye on the status of the pages in Google Search Console to ensure that the issue is resolved and that there are no further errors.
By following these steps, you can resolve the breadcrumbs issue and improve the likelihood of those pages being properly indexed and displayed in search results. This not only aids in SEO but also enhances user navigation on your site.
