Delete Old XML Sitemap on Google Search Console
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See how and why to delete an outdated XML Sitemap from the non-canonical website property in Google Search Console.
Are you getting emails from Google about old stuff that doesn’t exist anymore? This may fix it.
***Why You Need to Remove Old XML Sitemaps***
Google has told us that you should verify every version of your site property in Search Console.
Most of us have submitted a sitemap to the HTTP canonical version, meaning if our sites were www, then that’s the version we submitted the sitemap to.
When we converted to HTTPS, we verified the two new properties and then submitted our new XML sitemap to the new canonical.
But, we may not have deleted the old sitemap on the original canonical.
And that’s what we need to do now, as it seems to be confusing Google more than helping it figure out what our new links should be.
You may have received an email from Search Console saying there was an issue with a page or post or category that doesn’t even exist anymore.
My bet is that it is coming from that outdated XML sitemap, and it needs to be removed now.
***Confirmation from Google***
I asked about this issue on the Google Webmaster Central Help Forum. https://productforums.google.com/foru...
Hardil confirmed that we only submit the sitemap to the new canonical and that there is no harm in removing the old one.
***Links Mentioned in the Tutorial***
DIY SEO course https://learn.blogaid.net
HTTPS conversion https://blogaid.net/https-conversion