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Google Search Console -> Sitemaps -> "Add a new sitemap"

Enter what appears as a perfectly valid sitemap URL (mine is https://helios-public-assets.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sitemap.xml), and Google responds with:

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No error, no indication of what is wrong, the sitemap looks valid and fine to me (it loads OK)

Any ideas what is wrong here or is this a GSC bug?

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  • I tried validating the S3 bucket too but that didn't have any effect. pretty much no matter what I do it says "Please enter a valid path to a sitemap in your site."
    – Jason FB
    Nov 29, 2021 at 20:00

1 Answer 1

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The sitemap you submitted is not hosted on your domain. Instead you are hosting it on a s3 bucket with an AWS domain name URL. Sitemaps are only allowed to contain URLs for domains you can prove you can control.

The easiest way make your sitemap compliant would be to move it off the s3 bucked and to the same hosting as the rest of your site. The original sitemap protocol says that it MUST be that way:

Note that this means that all URLs listed in the Sitemap must use the same protocol (http, in this example) and reside on the same host as the Sitemap. For instance, if the Sitemap is located at http://www.example.com/sitemap.xml, it can't include URLs from http://subdomain.example.com.

If that isn't possible, Google now allows cross-domain sitemaps if you can verify both properties in google search console. So you could verify the https://helios-public-assets.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ prefix property in the same Search Console account where your main site is verified and then you would be allowed to use that sitemap with URLs for your main site.

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  • I cannot verify this... I added my S3 bucket using the "URL Prefix" method and uploaded the HTML file Google gave me.. it verified OK... however, when I go back to add the sitemap again, it still says "Please enter a valid path to a sitemap in your site."
    – Jason FB
    Nov 29, 2021 at 19:59
  • You know what it does actually work when I give it my own domain's site map which is at : heliosdev.shop/sitemap.xml.gz
    – Jason FB
    Nov 29, 2021 at 20:01
  • The problem with this solution is that I want a solution that is tolerant of a momentary offline time for my app-- I've always used S3 buckets before it seems strange to me that GSC won't allow it now.
    – Jason FB
    Nov 29, 2021 at 20:02
  • I've never tried to host cross-domain sitemaps, I've always put them directly under the domain like the sitemap protocol says you have to. I'm not sure exactly how you'd have to submit it to work with google but my guess is that you'd have to add the sitemap under the property for the s3 bucket.
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Nov 29, 2021 at 20:04
  • As far as downtime goes, it is fine if your sitemaps go offline when your site does. I haven't heard of any problems with Google failing to re-fetch sitemaps if they are offline briefly.
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Nov 29, 2021 at 20:17

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