Search console won’t fetch sitemap

  • Resolved davewoods100

    (@davewoods100)


    5 years, 5 months ago

    We’re trying to submit a sitemap to Google Search Console but not having much luck.

    The sitemap in question is at the following URL:
    https://smart-ink.biz/sitemap_index.xml

    I’ve uploaded a couple of screenshots to show what we’re seeing in Google Search Console when we submit the URL:

    https://smart-ink.biz/sitemap-1.png
    https://smart-ink.biz/sitemap-2.png

    The only error we seem to be getting from Google is the information that the sitemap has noindex within the headers, however from reading other topics on the subject, this is correct to avoid the sitemap itself from being indexed so as long as it can be crawled and followed, this shouldn’t be an issue?

    Any help would be appreciated.

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

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Plugin Support amboutwe

    (@amboutwe)

    Unfortunately, Google doesn’t provide any more information as to why they cannot read the sitemap.

    1. Does the sitemap load correctly in your browser?
    2. Are you submitting the correct sitemap URL of sitemap_index.xml?
    3. Does Google see the sitemap when checking the URL in the Structured Data Testing Tool?
    4. Does the URL inspection tool‘s live test show any errors with the sitemap URL? If yes, please resolve the errors.
    5. Did you submit the sitemap to the Google Search Console profile that matches the preferred URL format including http(s) and www or non-www?

    Using the screenshots, we checked each of the points above and nothing stands out as to the cause of the “Couldn’t Fetch” message. Please contact Google for further assistance here.

    Thread Starter davewoods100

    (@davewoods100)

    Thanks for the response:

    1. The sitemap loads fine in a browser: https://smart-ink.biz/sitemap_index.xml
    2. Yes, the above sitemap is being submitted correctly
    3. The structured data testing tool accepts the file and no errors or warnings are reported
    4. The only warning from the URL inspection tool is that noindex is detected in the X-Robots-Tag http header
    5. The preferred URL format has been dropped from Google Search Console (see: https://searchengineland.com/google-search-console-drops-preferred-domain-setting-318356), however we are submitting the sitemap URL based on what Google has indexed and what Google Search Console has set so this should be fine.

    We’ll try contacting Google via the link you’ve provided and post on this thread once we’ve had a response.

    Thanks for your help.

    Thread Starter davewoods100

    (@davewoods100)

    Just following up on this, it seems as though this is a common problem judging by the amount of reports of the same issue:

    https://support.google.com/webmasters/search?q=couldn%27t%2Bfetch%2Bsitemap&count=100

    I’m yet to see a solution to this other than people advising to just wait as they believe that Google reporting “Couldn’t fetch” is actually a “Pending” status so we’ll wait and see if a few more days makes any difference and report back ??

    Hi,

    We will leave this topic open for another week. Afterwards, we will close this in order to keep the overview. If you experience the issue again, please create a new topic.

    Plugin Support amboutwe

    (@amboutwe)

    This thread has been marked as resolved due to a lack of activity.

    You’re always welcome to re-open this topic. Please read this post before opening a new request.

    Thanks for understanding!

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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