Getting a Sitemap 404 When Using Yoast SEO?

Yoast’s SEO plugin for WordPress is my top choice for SEO addons. I used to rely on the inherent SEO functions available in the Thesis and Genesis frameworks, but I now prefer having the added functionality that Yoast SEO brings to the table – one of these being the handy XML Sitemap generator.

Anyway, today I went about submitting my Sitemap to my various Webmaster Tool accounts (Google, Bing, etc.) when I ran into a kooky issue. The sitemap_index.xml was returning a 404. Having never seen this issue before, I did what I often do when odd issues like this pop up…I cleared the settings, re-saved, activated the XML sitemap option, saved again and . . . BOOM!

I’m not smart enough to know what causes that glitch, but I know that these simple steps will help you get your Sitemap behaving properly.

1. Click on the XML Sitemaps option in the Yoast SEO menu.
2. Uncheck the box next to ‘Check this box to enable XML sitemap functionality.’
3. Click ‘Save Changes’
4. Check the box next to ‘Check this box to enable XML sitemap functionality.’
5. Click ‘Save Changes’ again.

This is similar to the trick I use when WordPress starts hassling me over permalinks. Not sure why that happens either, but if ever you start experiencing random and unexpected 404 errors when viewing your site, a good first step to troubleshooting this is to go to:

Settings > Permalinks, select the ‘Default’ option, ‘Save Changes’, select ‘Custom Structure’ again (I use /%postname%), and then ‘Save Changes’ again.

Wealthy Affiliate prepackages All-In-One-SEO with their site launch feature, but in my opinion, Yoast SEO is tops.