By Shad Super in Questions —

What Does It Indicate if a Sitemap Is Listed With Warnings in the Sitemaps Report, and How Can These Be Resolved?

Summary

A sitemap listed with warnings in the Sitemaps Report typically indicates issues that could impact a website’s crawlability and indexing. These warnings need to be addressed to ensure search engines can accurately and efficiently parse your site’s content.

Understanding Sitemap Warnings

Sitemap warnings are notifications from search engines, such as Google, highlighting potential issues within your sitemap that may hinder proper crawling and indexing. Warnings do not necessarily prevent the sitemap from functioning but can result in suboptimal performance.

Common Warnings in Sitemaps

  • Invalid or Missing URLs: URLs listed may be malformed or missing.
  • Incorrect Format: The sitemap may not conform to the standard XML format.
  • Too Large: The sitemap exceeds the size limit of 50MB or contains more than 50,000 URLs.
  • Non-canonical URLs: URLs that are not considered as the main or preferred version.
  • Blocked URLs: URLs blocked by robots.txt.

Resolving Sitemap Warnings

Fix Invalid or Missing URLs

Ensure all URLs in the sitemap are correctly formatted and accessible. Use a canonical format (e.g., including https:// if your website is HTTPS enabled).

Example:

<url>
<loc>https://www.example.com/page1</loc>
</url>
Check each URL manually or use online tools to validate URL formats.

[Create and Submit a Sitemap, 2023].

Ensure Correct Format

Verify the sitemap adheres to the XML standard by validating it against an XML schema. You can use tools like XML Validation. Common mistakes include missing required tags or incorrect nesting.

Manage Sitemap Size

If your sitemap exceeds the 50MB or 50,000 URLs limit, split it into smaller, separate sitemaps and use a sitemap index file to reference them.

Example:

<sitemapindex>
<sitemap>
<loc>https://www.example.com/sitemap1.xml</loc>
</sitemap>
<sitemap>
<loc>https://www.example.com/sitemap2.xml</loc>
</sitemap>
</sitemapindex>
[Large Sitemaps, 2023].

Verify Canonical URLs

Ensure each URL in the sitemap points to the canonical version of the page. Non-canonical URLs can confuse search engines. Use the rel="canonical" link element in the HTML of the canonical pages.

Example:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/main-page" />
[Consolidate Duplicate URLs, 2023].

Check for Blocked URLs

Ensure URLs in the sitemap are not blocked by the robots.txt file. Update robots.txt to allow search engines to crawl these URLs.

Example:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /private/
Ensure sitemaps URLs are not under any disallow rules. Test robots.txt using Google's Robots.txt Tester.

Monitoring and Maintenance

Regularly monitor your sitemap in Google Search Console or other webmaster tools. Ensure you keep your sitemap updated with the latest URLs as your site evolves. Continuous monitoring helps you address any new warnings promptly.

Conclusion

Addressing sitemap warnings involves ensuring correct formatting, managing size constraints, verifying canonical URLs, and unblocking URLs from robots.txt. Proactively monitoring and maintaining your sitemap ensures optimal search engine crawling and indexing, improving your site's performance in search results.

References