Invalid URL, Google says

  • I’m using the Google Sitemap Generator for WordPress 3.0b1 (and the same thing occured with 2.7.1). The creation of sitemap.xml and sitemap.xml.gz works fine — but when Google reads them I get the error message

    “Invalid URL (Line 1618) with URL /”
    “This is not a valid URL. Please correct it and resubmit.”

    I have of course taken a look at the specified line. It gets a higher number as new posts are published, but a very strange thing is that the line Google specifies not always refers to the same content!

    This is what the sitemap generated looks like. Line 1618 is the <url> in the middle (#2). Any ideas? The plug-in is great besides from this so it would be disappointing to have to stop using it.

    –
    <url>
    –
    <loc>
    https://www.wpr.se/2005/11/hjalp-sokes-anpassning-av-movable-type/
    </loc>
    <lastmod>2006-03-28T14:53:15+00:00</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
    </url>
    –
    <url>
    –
    <loc>
    https://www.wpr.se/2005/11/svenskens-anvandning-av-internet/
    </loc>
    <lastmod>2006-03-28T14:52:51+00:00</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
    </url>
    –
    <url>
    –

Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

  • I’m getting the same type of error message from Google on 2 sites.

    I have the same issue but with nearly every link that refers to the wordpress blog on my clients site.
    Does anyone have any ideas what could be the issue? Seems google doesn’t like all the directories …/4/7/06/something/or/other

    AFAIK you have to include the https:// with each of your URLs. I’m not sure why the plugin isn’t producing them though, since it’s working fine for me.

    Thread Starter fredrikw

    (@fredrikw)

    Regarding dutch_gecko’s comment: I’m sorry, I guess I should’ve used some code marking. In the sitemap there is https:// — it must have been this wiki that generated and shortened the clickable link when I posted the code.

    Yeah, just realised the forum strips out all the https and wwws.
    Hmm, one problem I had was with a difference between the xml and xml.gz versions of the sitemap. Have you tried switching between them at all? Not sure if this will help you but it’s worth a try.

    Hi,

    can you give me a link to your sitemap? What plugins do you use?

    Arne

    Moderator Samuel Wood (Otto)

    (@otto42)

    www.ads-software.com Admin

    I guessed the link to your sitemap as being this:
    https://www.wpr.se/sitemap.xml

    And I ran it through a validator. It found one problem, around line 2024.

    <url>
    <loc>/</loc>
    <lastmod>2006-03-23T09:05:15+00:00</lastmod>
    <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
    </url>

    That Location doesn’t make a lot of sense. Yes, it’s the root of your site, but I think stuff in the loc needs to be fully qualified. http and all that.

    Note that while Google gave you the wrong line number, it did give you the actual problem. That “URL /” is telling you that it doesn’t like the location of “/”.

    Thread Starter fredrikw

    (@fredrikw)

    Thanks for helping me trace the problem, Otto. It seems you found the place that Google dislikes.

    Arne – the URL Otto guessed is correct. I use many plugins but considering that this seems to be a problem with the home page I’m wondering if Static Front Page could be the cause (https://www.semiologic.com/software/static-front/). It replaces the standard WP home page with a, as it says, static front page.

    I will try to delete the page with the slug “home” and see what happens.

    Thread Starter fredrikw

    (@fredrikw)

    Ok, that solved it. I removed the page with the slug “home” (a page the plugin requires) and deactivated the plugin. Now Google is happy!

    My need for a static front page was solved with a home.php in the theme instead.

    Hi,

    nice ??

    could you try if the current version (v.2.3 – Apr 22nd, 2006) of Static Front Page would also fix the problem?

    https://semiologic.com/software/static-front/

    Arne

    I can confirm that the latest version of SEM Static Front Page also corrects the problem. Version 2.4 4/23/2006

    The downlaod link at https://www.semiologic.com/software/static-front/ still shows the anchor text for version 2.1, but the .zip contains the latest rev.

    P.S.
    Love Google Sitemaps plugin!!!

    I can confirm that the latest version of SEM Static Front Page also corrects the problem. Version 2.4 4/23/2006

    The downlaod link at https://www.semiologic.com/software/static-front/ still shows the anchor text for version 2.1, but the .zip contains the latest rev.

    P.S.
    Love Google Sitemaps plugin!!!

Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
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