How do I fix my sitemap?

[KempRugeLawGroup]

I have no idea how this happened, but our sitemap was http://www.kempruge.com/sitemap.xml, now it's http://www.kempruge.com/category/news/feed/ and google won't index it. It 404's. Obviously, I had to have done something wrong, but I don't know what and more importantly, I don't know how to find it in the backend of wordpress to change it. I tried a 301 redirect, but GWT still 404'd it. Any ideas? And, it's been like this for a few weeks, I've just neglected it, so I can't just reset the site without losing a lot of work.

Thanks,

Ruben

[KempRugeLawGroup]

Hey Paul,

I'm attaching a screenshot of the "Location of your sitemap file." I think these settings - which I didn't change - are correct. But, if I need to change something here, please let me know.

Thanks for help! I really have no idea what I did to cause this problem, but I guess, as long as it gets fixed, that's all that matters.

Best,

Ruben

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[ThompsonPaul]

Before you dump the plugin, Ruben, check in the plugin's settings for whether the location has somehow inadvertently been changed.

Under the Settings link in your WP Dashboard sidebar, there should be an entry for XML Sitemap (the plugin's settings)

On the settings page, there should be a spot to define where the sitemap should be located. If there is, and that location has somehow defaulted to the category feed, you should be able to change the location designation back to the correct /sitemap.xml location. (In the XML Sitemap Generator plugin I suspect you're using, the settings are in the 5th section down titled Location of your sitemap file.)

Does that work?

Paul

[KempRugeLawGroup]

It's a plugin, but it's not Yoast. We use All-in-one SEO, and then a separate one for the sitemap. However, that does help me. I could always just uninstall the sitemap plugin and redo it. That might work. Thank you all for helping me flush that out. I do appreciate it.

Best,

Ruben

[NateStewart]

The best way to deal with sitemaps on wordpress is to simply use a plugin. I can recommend the yoast seo plugin which has a built in sitemap feature or I have more recently been using the "google xml sitemap" plugin. Both will work fine. Both update automatically. So no need to update it manually. yoast creates a link to your sitemap link such (yourwebsite.com/sitemap-index.xml) and the other plugin creates one like this(yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml). once your sitemap is created there they both offer a link to it and you can copy the link and submit it to GWT.

I don't really know how your sitemap got messed up but i hope that the info above can make your life a little easier down the road. if you decide to use one of the plugins, you won't have to worry about that problem again.

Good luck.

[agua]

It looks like your sitemap.xml has been moved from that location or deleted. Did you create this manually or are you using a plugin to create the sitemap.xml? If so which one?

[Davenport-Tractor]

Hi Guys,

I personally believe in updating a sitemap often so that any changes made in your website are reflected in you Google sitemap which keeps them up to date, and you will see Google's spiders hitting your site for the new data.

Use a sitemap generator like Screaming frog which may be downloaded for free here: http://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/

Generate your new sitemap.xml file (which is something you could do on a regular basis), then upload it to a place of your choosing. Now in Google Webmaster Tools list your new sitemap.xml file and your off and running again. A very simple procedure.