Sitemap Issues

  • Resolved NYG8OR

    (@nyg8or)


    1 month, 1 week ago

    Hello.

    I am having issues with google search console and my pages being indexed properly. I have gone down the rabbit hole with this and now I have deleted all previous sitemap.xml files from my site and from goggle search console. I have enabled Yoast SEO XML Sitemaps. When I go to my sitemap_index.xml file, it looks correct. Although I will note that this does not appear in my ftp directory so I assume this is a virtual file. I have added sitemp_index.xml as a sitemap to google search console. I am not sure if this was a correct step as opposed to leaving google empty of any sitemaps but felt that I had to point google to the correct sitemap. When I do this, google can read the sitemap but tells me that “Sitemap can be read, but has errors”. The error is Empty Sitemap. Your Sitemap does not contain any URLs. Please validate and resubmit your Sitemap. But when I go directly to the sitemap_index.xml file it does seem to have url’s. So is this in the wrong format? I can not figure out what I am doing wrong. Please advise. Thank you.

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Plugin Support Maybellyne

    (@maybellyne)

    Hello @nyg8or,

    Thanks for using Yoast SEO. I’ve addressed your concerns below:

    When I go to my sitemap_index.xml file, it looks correct. Although I will note that this does not appear in my ftp directory so I assume this is a virtual file.

    That’s correct. Yoast SEO generates an XML sitemap on the fly, dynamically, as you update or create content.

    I have added sitemp_index.xml as a sitemap to google search console. I am not sure if this was a correct step

    That’s correct. You should submit only the sitemap index in Google Search Console

    When I do this, google can read the sitemap but tells me that “Sitemap can be read, but has errors”. The error is Empty Sitemap.

    The sitemap index and the child sitemaps all contain URLs, so that’s a false positive. You can remove the sitemap index and resubmit again, then monitor the results.

    Thread Starter NYG8OR

    (@nyg8or)

    Thanks for the reply. I have deleted and resubmitted the sitemap. I am receiving the same error. It was resubmitted on Oct 17 and last read on Oct 17. I am getting the same error as before. I believe this is causing some additional issues where most of my pages are not indexed. Any further advice on what to try so that the sitemap can be read correctly. Thanks.

    Sitemap can be read, but has errors

    Empty Sitemap

    Your Sitemap does not contain any URLs. Please validate and resubmit your Sitemap.

    Plugin Support Maybellyne

    (@maybellyne)

    Could you remove the web property from Google Search Console then re-add it. Afterwards, you can go ahead to resubmit the sitemap. I can assure you your sitemap is fine and in the right format

    Thread Starter NYG8OR

    (@nyg8or)

    I got a notice yesterday that some pages that I had submitted days before for index validation had been successfully fixed. So I submitted all the page errors for validation again. I am going to wait and see what happens with that before I do anything further. It could just be showing up as an error, but if the pages are indexed than all will be good. But there does seem to be issues as I know that pages that used to show up in google searches do not show up anymore. But I am going to wait and see if the resubmission fixes this. I will report back once I hear back on my submission which should be a few days. Thanks.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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