No 410 status for attachment URLs after Search Index Purge installed

Hi Yoast,

I just disabled Yoast SEO Search Index Purge plugin as I could see attachments being indexed, again..

I will enable it back whenever you reply for you to check what’s going on, I read many similar cases where attachments did not return to 410 status.

Seing the mess that YOAST Bug update created for SEO ranks, I’d love to hear your help. Yoast account related to this website is Premium.

Thank You,

Hi Yoast, just to let you know that Yoast SEO Search Index Purge plugin did not work at all, instead, it created 492 errors in the search console.

Would really appreciate help on how to purge media url for good.

Account related to this issue is Premium.

Thanks

Hi,

If you want to use the purge plugin please re-activate on your site. The purge plugin will make all those attachment pages that appear on the attachment-sitemap.xml show a 410 status code.

While we are not familiar with your site, we do know some sites show a specific 404 page for pages that have a 410 status code.

We suggest contacting your host provider and having them run header check on one of those attachment pages or using some kind of tool to check them like: https://tools.seobook.com/server-header-checker/.

The expectation is that it will show a 410 status code.

If you want your theme to show a specific 410 page when it has a 410 status code, your theme developer can help.

Please also know that in Google Search Console, you may see an increase in errors in your Google Search Console but it is expected with the purge plugin. Having those errors (as long as they are related to the attachment pages) is OK and is not expected to affect the SEO.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by Pcosta88.

Hi Pcosta88 and thanks for your answer!

I just enabled plugin again, here is my attachment sitemap: https://fitle.com/attachment-sitemap.xml

Is all good, just need to wait ?

Checking any URL with https://tools.seobook.com/server-header-checker/ do not seem to give me 410 status but mainly ‘404 Not Found’ that’s where I’m confused.

Thank You

We checked on the attachment URLs and do see them returning a 404 and not a 410 status. However, if you have purchased SEO Premium you would need to contact us directly at [email protected] for assistance as this forum is reserved for support of the free version of Yoast SEO.

We are going ahead and marking this issue as resolved due to inactivity. If you require any further assistance please create a new issue.