[Plugin: WordPress SEO by Yoast] Site map constantly pending in Google Webmasters

  • Resolved Dave

    (@tlwh)


    11 years, 11 months ago

    WordPress version: 3.3.2
    WordPress SEO version: 1.1.9

    I did this: Updated WordPress SEO plugin.

    I expected the plugin to do this:

    Site map get indexed easily in Google Webmasters

    Instead it did this:

    sitemap_index.xml is working, no issues. But in Google Webmasters it’s constantly being listed as “pending” thus the number of indexed posts etc are 0

    However in Webmasters clicking on sitemap_index.xml reveals
    /category-sitemap.xml
    /post-sitemap.xml
    /post_tag-sitemap.xml

    All of which indicate they’ve been indexed.

    Yet back in the main Webmasters dashboard I get sitemap_index.xml pending and nothing indexed.

    If I resubmit, it takes a few mins before saying submitted. But still nothing indexed.

    No errors are listed.

    Weird.

    I’m thinking this is a google webmasters issue and am tempted to submit
    /category-sitemap.xml
    /post-sitemap.xml
    /post_tag-sitemap.xml

    As separate sitemaps and remove sitemap_index.xml

    Any suggestions?

    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-seo/

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Plugin Contributor Joost de Valk

    (@joostdevalk)

    11 years, 11 months ago

    Hmm that could be the issue. Let me email someone at Google and find out what could cause this.

    Plugin Contributor Joost de Valk

    (@joostdevalk)

    11 years, 11 months ago

    Been in touch with a Googler, he told me you should use their Google Webmaster forums, as the issue is with Google not with the plugin.

    Thread Starter Dave

    (@tlwh)

    11 years, 11 months ago

    Thanks for that Joost. I’ll dive into the abyss of Google forums.

    Plugin Contributor Joost de Valk

    (@joostdevalk)

    11 years, 11 months ago

    Yeah sorry mate 🙂

    Blake Anthony

    (@blake9825)

    11 years, 10 months ago

    I actually ran into this exact same issue with my site but it was also happening in Bing webmaster.

    Does that mean that it is something to do with the plugin?

    Also in the meantime I was running Google XML sitemaps while looking for a solution. Is it bad practice to also index a sitemap.xml since the Yoast is in the sitemap_index.xml?

    Any insights are much appreciated.

    Thread Starter Dave

    (@tlwh)

    11 years, 10 months ago

    Well since submitting
    /category-sitemap.xml
    /post-sitemap.xml
    /post_tag-sitemap.xml

    Separately I’ve had no issues if that’s any help.

    I wouldn’t have two sitemaps that are the same submitted to Google. Joost might have a different take, but I’d keep it as simple as possible with no duplication.

    Strangely I didn’t have the same issue with Bing webmaster.

    Blake Anthony

    (@blake9825)

    11 years, 10 months ago

    Thanks for the fast response.

    Once I submitted the sitemap rather than the directory it fixed the problem.

    rahul247rocks

    (@rahul247rocks)

    11 years, 10 months ago

    Hey Guys,
    I started a discussion on Google Webmaster Forum Here . So if you are getting this problem with Yoast Default Sitemap then I think you can support my discussion so that a Google Employee sees the thread and fixes our sites.

    bpmstr

    (@bpmstr)

    11 years, 5 months ago

    A reply would be valuable – thanks in advance… A very similar issue here – all sitemap pages are working but the tags link results in 404 error. I have only about 20 tags, and so the file size cannot be the problem… My XML map address is this: http://www.bpmstr.com/sitemap_index.xml – the pages and the posts are fine, but the tags page is empty (??) …Did you manage to solve this?

    bpmstr

    (@bpmstr)

    11 years, 5 months ago

    Update: the Tag Sitemap now works but required a strange tweak. Perhaps anyone knows why and how this is important. So… All my tags have custom WordPress SEO settings – SEO title and SEO description. These are blank by default but can be added on Edit Tag page for each tag I have. Prior to testing my tag sitemap and learning that it wasn’t generating, I set up all my tags to have an SEO title and description. And I now determined that with these custom descriptions Yoast does NOT generate the tag sitemap, UNLESS each such tag has the “Include in sitemap?” option set to “Always Include”. By default, this setting is on “Auto Detect”, and this is the root of the situation: To get Yoast to generate the tag sitemap, you must either (a) leave the SEO title and description blank or (b) change the value of “Include in Sitemap?” field from “Auto Detect” to “Always Include”. The natural question follows: why does Yoast WordPress SEO want to exclude tags with custom SEO title and/or description from the sitemap? Perhaps the values of these fields must conform to a certain standard or format? If that’s the case, what are the guidelines? (number of characters, prohibited characters, etc.)

    justincoetzee

    (@justincoetzee)

    11 years, 3 months ago

    Hi Joost

    Have you been able to get more clarity on this issue? I’ve got the same problem and although the guys have submitted this to the Google forums, there are 0 replies from Google on this. (http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/webmasters/9uEIxf4FuVI)

    This seems to be widespread and I’m hoping there is some way around this issue. Would it be better to submit the sitemaps individually rather than the index? I would really appreciate your feedback on this.

    Thanks,
    Justin.

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • The topic ‘[Plugin: WordPress SEO by Yoast] Site map constantly pending in Google Webmasters’ is closed to new replies.

Tags