Troubleshooting Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

Struggling with a "Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch" error in Framer? Learn troubleshooting steps to resolve the issue quickly.

Troubleshooting Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

You created an impressive website using Framer design and optimized it for SEO. But when you check Google Search Console, you see the dreaded "Framer Google Sitemap could not fetch" error. What does it mean? Why did it happen? And more importantly, how can you fix it? This article will help you troubleshoot this pesky Google error so you can focus on your website, instead of worrying about technical issues.

NUMI’s solution, Framer design, offers a valuable tool to help you achieve your objectives, such as troubleshooting the Framer Google Sitemap could not fetch error in Google Console. With their support, you can fix the error quickly and get back to your website.

What is a Sitemap?

man on a phone - Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

A sitemap is a file that outlines your website's:

  • Pages
  • Images
  • Videos
  • Other information

It’s essentially a map of every point on your website, including where they are, how they connect, and why they matter. 

The Two Types of Sitemaps: What’s the Difference? 

There are two types of sitemaps to know: 

  • HTML 
  • XML

Each has a different format and purpose that affects how you use it.

1. HTML sitemaps 

An HTML sitemap is a page on your website that lists every main page. They should be easy to find and usually linked to the footer or header of your page. The format should be straightforward, usually as a list with groupings. You’ll often place a link to the sitemap in your footer.

2. XML sitemaps 

An XML sitemap is a website file that lists pages you want search engines to index and crawl. It is entirely coded. An XML sitemap explicitly targets search engines and gives them a specific layout of your website, including the:

  • Pages
  • Categories
  • Media
  • Anything else you want to include

You upload XML files to Google instead of posting them on your website.

What Do Sitemaps Do? 

XML sitemaps help search engines crawl your website and index your pages. The point of an HTML sitemap is to help users find and navigate through all your pages. Both types help you monitor the content on your website and keep track of what pages you have.

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Why are Sitemaps important?

man on a laptop - Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

When search engines crawl your site, they look for links to discover your pages. The more links you have pointing to a page, the better. But what happens when your site has a large number of pages? Search engines often miss some of your valuable content, especially if it’s buried deep within the site’s structure. 

This is where sitemaps can help. An XML sitemap acts as a directory for search engines, highlighting the important pages on your site. Some of your pages might go unindexed without it, hurting your SEO. By providing an XML sitemap, you help ensure that search engines can discover and index your most critical pages. This is particularly important because search engines have a limited crawl budget; they won’t crawl every page of your site. An XML sitemap helps them get to the important pages faster.

Faster Indexation: Speeding Up the Process

For new websites, getting indexed quickly is essential. Submitting an XML sitemap to search engines like Google can lead to faster page rankings. This is especially beneficial for new content or updates, as search engines can recognize changes more quickly. 

If you regularly update your website with new blog posts, product pages, or other content, a sitemap helps Google and other search engines identify these updates promptly. This ensures your audience can find fresh content without delays.

Improved User Experience: Helping Human Visitors

Sitemaps are beneficial for search engines and enhance the user experience. HTML sitemaps, designed for human visitors, provide a comprehensive view of your site’s structure. This allows users to quickly find the information they’re looking for, all in one place. 

When visitors can easily navigate your site, they’re more likely to stay longer, explore different pages, and ultimately convert, whether purchasing, signing up for a newsletter, or any other desired action.

How to Access Your Website's Sitemap in Framer

employees working on a laptop - Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

When you use Framer to build your website, you do not have to worry about creating or updating the sitemap. That’s because Framer automatically generates a sitemap as you build your site. This automation ensures that your sitemap is always current, reflecting the latest changes to your content and structure.

To access your sitemap in Framer, append /sitemap.xml to your domain name. For example, if your website is mydomain.com, simply navigate to mydomain.com/sitemap.xml. This will give you a clear view of your website’s structure and the pages included in the sitemap.

Why Checking Your Framer Sitemap Matters

By reviewing your sitemap, you can gain valuable insights into how your website is organized, which pages are indexed, and how often they’re updated. This information is crucial for optimizing your site for search engines, helping you attract more visitors, and improving your overall online presence. 

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How Do I Get My Framer Site Indexed?

man on a laptop - Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

Create an XML Sitemap to Help Search Engines Index Your Framer Site

Search engines use sitemaps to find and index the pages on your site. An XML sitemap lists the pages on your site in a format search engines can easily read. Thankfully, Framer automatically generates an XML sitemap for you. You can find your Framer sitemap at [yoursitename.com/sitemap.xml](http://yoursitename.com/sitemap.xml). Be sure to replace "yoursitename" with your actual Framer site URL. 

Submit Your Sitemap to Google

Once you generate your Framer sitemap, submit it to Google. You can do this with Google Search Console. Open Google Search Console and add your Framer website as a property. After you verify ownership, go to the "Sitemaps" section in the left-hand menu. Under "Add a new sitemap," enter the URL of your sitemap and click "Submit." 

Submit Your Pages Directly to Google

Once you submit your sitemap, you can wait for Google to crawl your pages automatically. This can take weeks or not happen at all. You can submit your pages directly to Google. In Google Search Console, go to the "URL Inspection Tool" and enter the URL of any page on your site. After Google fetches the page, click "Request Indexing."

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How To Connect Google Search Console To Your Framer Site

man on a laptop - Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

Framer Sites: Why Connect Google Search Console? 

Google Search Console is a powerful tool that provides insights into how Google views your website and how it performs in search results. Connecting your Framer site with Google Search Console allows you to monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google Search results. 

Adding a Property

You need to visit Google Search Console. Upon visiting, we’ll be greeted with two options: 'Domain' or 'URL Prefix' - there are a few significant differences between the two. 

  • Domain Property in Google Search Console: A domain property covers all URLs across all subdomains and all URLs across HTTP or HTTPS. This supports only DNS verification.
  • URL Prefix Property in Google Search Console: A URL Prefix covers only URLs under the entered address and only URLs under the specified protocol. 

This offers multiple verification methods. The URL prefix one is the easiest to set up, so we’ll use that method in this guide. Domain verification will produce very similar outputs, but it can be harder to set up. We must select the URL input and enter our website’s address and https://. This will look something like https://www.example.com, and then press continue. 

Verifying Your Site Ownership

Since we have selected the URL Prefix option, you will have multiple verification methods. This consists of uploading an HTML file to your website, adding a meta tag to your site’s homepage, 

  • Using a Google Analytics account
  • Using Google Tag Manager 
  • Associating a DNS record with Google

You can’t upload an HTML file to a Framer website, so we’ll choose the 'Adding a Meta Tag to Your Site’s Homepage' option. We need to copy the unique meta tag that Google has generated for us. 

You must navigate to our Framer website’s general settings, scroll down to the end of the <head> tag, paste in the meta tag, press save, and re-publish our website. From there, we can navigate to Google Search Console and press verify. Be patient, as this can take a few minutes to complete. 

Confirming Verification

After completing one of the verification methods, Google will check to ensure everything is aligned correctly. Once verified, you can access your site’s data in Google Search Console. 

Bonus Tip: Submitting Your Sitemap

You can submit your sitemap to Google Search Console to help Google crawl your Framer site more effectively. To submit your sitemap, navigate to the Sitemaps section within the left-hand sidebar of your Google Search Console’s dashboard, enter sitemap.xml in the input, and press submit. Please note this can take a few minutes. 

Troubleshooting Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

woman working on a laptop - Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

Seeing the "Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch" error while using Framer can be disappointing. It’s important to know that this error doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem with your sitemap. Google processes sitemaps on a “best effort” basis, which means they have a substantial backlog. 

Even if you submit your sitemap, it may still be in line to be processed. While waiting, you might see messages like "Couldn't fetch" or the more detailed "Sitemap could not be read." In many cases, these messages simply mean that Google still needs to fetch your sitemap, which can be misleading.

Why You Shouldn’t Panic

Your sitemap may not be wrong; it’s just that Google hasn’t gotten around to processing it yet. If there’s an issue with your sitemap, Google will usually provide a more specific error message once it attempts to fetch it. 

Treat the "Couldn't fetch" message as a notice rather than a full-blown error. The wording can sound alarming, but it’s essential to remember that it doesn’t necessarily reflect a critical problem.

What to Do If the Issue Persists

If you continue to see the "Couldn't fetch" message without further details, there isn’t much you can do at that point, as it may indicate that everything is functioning correctly on your end. 

If you eventually receive a more specific error message, it might be worthwhile to seek assistance. When you do, include the full URL of your sitemap and the exact message you received from the console. This information will help others provide you with more targeted support.

Processing Times Are Variable

One of the frustrating aspects of this issue is that there’s no set timeline for how long a sitemap might be stuck in the backlog. While some sitemaps process quickly, others can take months. 

A quote from Google’s documentation sums it up well: “Submitting a sitemap is merely a hint; it doesn’t guarantee that Google will download the sitemap or use the sitemap for crawling URLs on the site.” This means that while sitemaps are helpful, they’re not the be-all and end-all for indexing.

The Importance of Internal Linking 

It’s also worth noting that many webmasters believe sitemaps are crucial for indexing, but that’s not always the case. For smaller websites with a solid internal structure, Google’s bots are competent and can effectively crawl and index your site without a sitemap at all. Once Google gains access to your site, it can index the entire site, especially if the pages are sensibly interlinked. 

Additional steps you can take to try resolve this: 

1. Check Your Sitemap URL 

Navigate to https://www.yourcustomdomain.com/sitemap.xml in your browser to confirm that the sitemap is accessible.

2. Submit the Correct Sitemap in GSC 

In Google Search Console, go to the Sitemaps section. Enter your sitemap URL (sitemap.xml) and submit it. Ensure you include the full path: https://www.yourcustomdomain.com/sitemap.xml.

3. Domain Settings 

Double-check your domain settings in Framer to ensure everything is configured correctly. If you've recently changed any settings, it might take some time for those changes to propagate.

4. Wait for Crawling 

After submitting the sitemap, remember that it may take time for Google to crawl and index your site. Monitor GSC for updates on indexing status.

5. Check for Errors 

If you still encounter issues, check the Indexing report in GSC for any specific errors related to non-indexed URLs or problems with fetching.

6. Community Support 

If problems persist, consider contacting the Framer community or support forums for additional insights or similar experiences from other users.

3 Best Tips For Optimizing Sitemaps

woman on a laptop - Framer Google Sitemap Could Not Fetch

1. Use XML Files to Structure Internal Links and External URLs

Using XML sitemaps as a blueprint for a website helps search engine crawlers index your pages faster. The XML file is a list of URLs directing crawling bots to the website's content and pathway. 

Using internal and external links for your sitemaps informs search engine crawlers what’s considered important on the website and helps reduce the occurrence of orphan pages. Such clarity boosts overall SEO health, which augurs well for ranking! 

Note: XML sitemaps don’t guarantee the indexing of your web pages but rather boost indexability chances.  Framer Google sitemap could not fetch errors can occur when a site’s structure is disorganized. Creating an optimized XML sitemap can help improve the organization to avoid these errors.

2. Keeping the Root Directory Clean and Organized

The root directory stores other folders and files on a domain, i.e, the central location for all files and directories forming a website. All web requests start at the root directory. Hypothetically, including your sitemaps outside the root directory is harmless, but this goes against the established protocol. The location of a sitemap determines the files it can accommodate. 

Search engines don’t care much when the sitemap.xml is not in the root directory. Avoid clogging your root directory with multiple files, affecting your website's responsiveness. Framer Google sitemap could not fetch issues that can arise when there are too many files in a website’s root directory, and the structure is disorganized.

3. Include ALL Web Pages in the Sitemaps Page URL

Sitemaps act as a pathway for Google bots, taking them to all web pages on the site, even when the internal linking isn’t great. Including all web pages in the sitemap file enhances communication between the website and the search engines.  

This can help improve SEO and fix Framer Google sitemap could not fetch errors by ensuring there are no orphan pages or broken links on a website.

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