"If this is not the most appropriate subreddit, please point me in the right direction. I am assisting a client who typically tries to handle things on their own before coming to me for help. I am seeking clarification on a technical issue related to sitemaps and Google Search Console.The client’s WordPress site uses Yoast SEO for sitemaps, which were submitted and validated in Google Search Console. They recently purchased a new service called Pro Sitemaps, which hosts sitemaps on a separate domain and requires adjustments to the robots.txt file. I disabled the Yoast sitemaps, set up the new service according to their instructions, and verified ownership of both domains in Google Search Console.
In the Google Search Console, the sitemaps for the main site appear to be the old ones from Yoast, which are validated and marked as green. I am considering deleting these files from the server and removing the entries from the Search Console. For the Pro Sitemaps domain, the main sitemap file shows an outdated number of pages and errors for each link, indicating a different domain error.
I followed the instructions for cross-submission, so I anticipated the domain mismatch in the error messages. However, I am unsure if it’s normal for Google Search Console to report these as errors in a cross-submission setup. Any advice or guidance on what to expect in a successful cross-submission setup in Google Search Console would be greatly appreciated."
It is normal to see domain mismatch errors in Google Search Console when cross-submitting sitemaps from a separate domain. This is because the sitemap itself is hosted on a different domain than the website it refers to.
You can expect the following in a successful cross-submission setup:
- The sitemap file will show a different domain in the error messages. This is because the sitemap is hosted on a different domain.
- The sitemap may show a different number of pages than the actual website. This is because the sitemap may not be fully updated.
- The sitemap may show errors for some links. This is because the sitemap may not be able to access all the pages on the website.
However, it is essential to ensure that the sitemap is being used by Google.
You should see the following:
- The sitemap should be validated in Google Search Console. This means that Google has been able to access the sitemap and verify that it is formatted correctly.
- The sitemap should be indexed by Google. This means that Google has crawled the pages listed in the sitemap and added them to its index.
If you are not seeing these signs, it is possible that the sitemap is not being used correctly.
You should:
- Check the robots.txt file to ensure that the sitemap is allowed to be crawled.
- Review the instructions for the Pro Sitemaps service and ensure that you have followed them correctly.
- Contact the Pro Sitemaps support team for assistance if you are unable to resolve the issue.
Removing the old Yoast sitemaps from the server and Search Console is generally a good idea after successfully implementing the Pro Sitemaps service. This will help Google prioritize the new sitemap and avoid confusion.