Clarification on indexation of XML sitemaps within Webmaster Tools
-
Hi Mozzers,
I have a large service based website, which seems to be losing pages within Google's index. Whilst working on the site, I noticed that there are a number of xml sitemaps for each of the services. So I submitted them to webmaster tools last Friday (14th) and when I left they were "pending".
On returning to the office today, they all appear to have been successfully processed on either the 15th or 17th and I can see the following data:
13/08 - Submitted=0 Indexed=0
14/08 - Submitted=606,733 Indexed=122,243
15/08 - Submitted=606,733 Indexed=494,651
16/08 - Submitted=606,733 Indexed=517,527
17/08 - Submitted=606,733 Indexed=517,498Question 1: The indexed pages on 14th of 122,243 - Is this how many pages were previously indexed? Before Google processed the sitemaps? As they were not marked processed until 15th and 17th?
Question 2: The indexed pages are already slipping, I'm working on fixing the site by reducing pages and improving internal structure and content, which I'm hoping will fix the crawling issue. But how often will Google crawl these XML sitemaps?
Thanks in advance for any help.
-
Hi again
This means that because you have multiple sitemaps, Google is going to crawl those at different times possibly and at different rates, hence some of your sitemaps taking a day longer. I really wouldn't look into it too much, and just be assured that Google is crawling your sitemaps fine and indexing.
If you notice major discrepancies in what you submitted and what's being indexed, then I would refer to this Google resource on how to fix issues or errors you find in your sitemap crawl.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-
Hi there
You submitted on the 13th, there were 0 pages indexed. The next day there were 122,243, so in that time period, Google indexed 122,243 of your site's pages.
This is a day by day process. So whatever new number appears on each day, subtract the previous day's number from your present day number, and that's how many pages were freshly indexed.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-
Just checked webmaster tools again, and now they (sitemaps) all say processed on 17th and some say 18th (today) does this mean the sitemaps are being processed by Google every couple of days?
-
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for elaborating on question 2.
Question 1, I asked if the number (122,243) was how many pages were in the index** before** google processed the sitemaps, as they don't appear to have been processed until the following day.
You answered, yes but then said its how many pages were processed that day?
Thanks again for your time and clarification.
-
Hi there
Question 1 - Yes, this is how many pages Google indexed from your sitemap on that day.
Question 2 - XML sitemaps allow you to tell Google the change frequency of your URLs - you can learn more about that here. Also, according to Google:
Google's spiders regularly crawl the web to rebuild our index. Crawls are based on many factors such as PageRank, links to a page, and crawling constraints such as the number of parameters in a URL. Any number of factors can affect the crawl frequency of individual sites.
Our crawl process is algorithmic; computer programs determine which sites to crawl, how often, and how many pages to fetch from each site. We don't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently. For tips on maintaining a crawler-friendly website, please visit our Webmaster Guidelines.
Please let me know if you have any further questions or comments.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Accidental No Index
Hi everyone, We control several client sites at my company. The developers accidentally had a no index robot implemented in the site code when we did the HTTPS upgrade without knowing it (yes it's true). Ten days later we noticed traffic was falling. After a couple days we found the no index tags and removed them and resumbitted the sitemaps. The sites started ranking for their own keywords again within a day or two. The organic traffic is still down considerably and other keywords they are not ranking for in the same spot as they were before or at all. If I look in Google Search console, it says we submitted for example 4,000 URLs and only 160 have been indexed. I feel like maybe Google is taking a long time to re-index to remainder of the sites?? Has anyone has this issue?? We're starting to get very concerned so any input would be appreciate. I read an article on here from 2011 about a company that did the same and they were ranking for their keywords within a week. It's been 8 days since our fix.
Technical SEO | | AliMac260 -
Bogus Crawl Errors in Webmaster Tools?
I am suddenly seeing a ton of crawl errors in webmaster tools. Almost all of them are URL links coming from scraper sites.that I do not own. Do you see these in your Webmaster Tools account? Do you mark them as "fixed" if they are on a scraper site? There are waaaay too many of these to make redirects. Thanks!
Technical SEO | | EGOL0 -
Meta data & xml sitemaps for mobile sites when using rel="canonical"/rel="alternate" annotations
When using rel="canonical" and rel="alternate" annotations between mobile and desktop sites (rel="canonical" on mobile, pointing to desktop, and rel="alternate" on desktop pointing to mobile), what are everyone's thoughts on using meta data on the mobile site? Is it necessary? And also, what is the common consensus on using a separate mobile xml sitemap?
Technical SEO | | 4Ps0 -
Best way to handle indexed pages you don't want indexed
We've had a lot of pages indexed by google which we didn't want indexed. They relate to a ajax category filter module that works ok for front end customers but under the bonnet google has been following all of the links. I've put a rule in the robots.txt file to stop google from following any dynamic pages (with a ?) and also any ajax pages but the pages are still indexed on google. At the moment there is over 5000 pages which have been indexed which I don't want on there and I'm worried is causing issues with my rankings. Would a redirect rule work or could someone offer any advice? https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site:outdoormegastore.co.uk+inurl:default&num=100&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvnsl&filter=0&biw=1600&bih=809#hl=en&safe=off&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:outdoormegastore.co.uk+inurl%3Aajax&oq=site:outdoormegastore.co.uk+inurl%3Aajax&gs_l=serp.3...194108.194626.0.194891.4.4.0.0.0.0.100.305.3j1.4.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.SDhuslImrLY&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=ff301ef4d48490c5&biw=1920&bih=860
Technical SEO | | gavinhoman0 -
Omitting URLs from XML Sitemap - Bad??
Hi all, We are working on an extremely large retail site with some major duplicate content issues that we are in the process of remedying. The site also does not currently have an XML sitemap. Would it be advisable to create a small XML sitemap with only the main category pages for the time being, and then after our duplicate content issues are resolved, uploading the complete sitemap? Or should we wait to upload anything until all work is complete down to the product page level and canonicals are in place? Will uploading a incomplete sitemap be fraudulent or misleading in the eyes of the search engines and prompt a penalty, or would having at least the main pages mapped while we continue work be okay? Please let me know if more info is needed to answer! Thanks in advance!
Technical SEO | | seo320 -
Google Webmaster tools vs SeoMOZ Crawl Diagnostics
Hi Guys I was just looking over my weekly report and crawl diagnostics. What I've noticed is that the data gathered on SeoMoz is different from Google Webmaster diagnostics. The number of errors, in particular duplicate page titles, content and pages not found is much higher that what google webmaster tools is represents. I'm a bit confused and don't know which data is more accurate. Please Help
Technical SEO | | Tolod0 -
Site not indexing correctly
I am trying to figure out what is going on with my site listings. Google is only displaying my title and url - no description. You can see it when you search for Franchises for Sale. The site is www.franchisesolutions.com. Why could this happen? Also I saw a big drop off in a handful of keyword rankings today. Could this be related?
Technical SEO | | franchisesolutions0 -
Google Webmaster Creation
When creating Google Webmaster Account is it advised to create 2 accounts for the 1 domain. one for non www and one for www?
Technical SEO | | daracreative0