SEO finding
The sitemap lists a URL that the page itself says should not be indexed
SEO Warning Severity: Medium
Part of the audit The sitemap asks for indexing, the page refuses. Finding id: seo.sitemapEntryContradictsPage.
What it costs you
A sitemap that lists pages you do not want indexed loses its value: search engines trust the rest of the file less and spend crawl time on URLs that lead nowhere.
What to do
If the URL has search clicks or most of the file is affected, fix the page. Otherwise remove the entry from the sitemap.
What it checks
- Sitemap page is marked not to be indexed
- Sitemap page is blocked in the robots file
- Sitemap page redirects elsewhere
- Sitemap page names another preferred address
- Sitemap page returns an error
How to fix it
Take the entry out of the sitemap
- Open [url] and confirm what it answers (status [status]).
- If the page is gone or moved on purpose, remove the entry. For a redirect, list the target instead.
- If the page should exist, restore it.
- If the sitemap is generated, change the generator so it leaves out pages that are removed or redirected.
How to check: Run this rule again.
Decide whether the page should be found
- For each listed URL decide: should it be in search results?
- If yes: remove the noindex, the robots.txt block or the wrong canonical.
- If no: take it out of the sitemap.
- If the sitemap is generated, change the generator so it leaves out pages that are noindex, blocked or canonicalised elsewhere.
How to check: Run this rule again. In the Search Console sitemap report the number of indexed pages moves towards the number submitted.
How to verify by hand
Search Console sitemap report: submitted versus indexed.
What this relies on
The page state is deliberate and the sitemap is stale, unless most of a section is affected.