sitemap.xml for two domains - This URL is not allowed for a Sitemap at this location

Question

I have two domains running on the same server with the same IP (different content).

I have read that it is ok to provide only one sitemap containing information for both domains, so this is what the sitemap looks like (extract):

<url>
    <loc>http://www.domain1.tld/page1/</loc>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
</url>
<url>
    <loc>http://www.domain2.tld/page1/</loc>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.7</priority>
</url>

Now when I submit the sitemap in Google Webmaster Tools I get the following error message:

This url is not allowed for a Sitemap at this location.

which is caused by the second domain being in the sitemap.

I have read that it is possible to also provide Google, etc. with different sitemaps for each domain.
Would that be solution or can I ignore the error? What would be the best solution

Answer 1

Here is Google's documentation on multiple sitemaps

The most likely cause of your error is that you have not verified each of the sites using webmaster tools. I would suggest that you:

• Verify each site
• Let Google know about the sitemap for each site
  • Put it in each robots.txt file
  • OR submit the same sitemap under each site in webmaster tools

If you have done that and still get the error then you would have to split it into two sitemaps.

Answer 2

Sites are not indexed per IP address because there can be many websites on a single server and IP.

I would not ignore errors in Webmaster Tools, and would suggest submitting separate sitemaps for each site you want indexed. There is no benefit trying to combine them if the content and domains are different.