- Class
- C3 Standard
- Weight
- 2
- Severity on fail
- minor
- Applies to
- the Sitemaps protocol
Test this rule on a live site with the XML sitemap checker. Free, no account needed.
Scope and evidence
Evaluated on each sitemap file. The book marks this requirement STANDARD.
Fail conditions
Each condition has a stable code and a reason template. The evaluator fills the placeholders from observed values only; no sentence in a report is generated.
not_utf8The sitemap {sitemap} is not valid UTF-8 (first invalid byte at line {line}). The Sitemaps protocol requires UTF-8.
loc_too_long{n} URLs in {sitemap} are 2,048 characters or longer. The Sitemaps protocol requires loc values shorter than 2,048 characters.
index_child_out_of_scopeThe sitemap index {sitemap} lists {child}, which is on a different site. The Sitemaps protocol allows an index to list only sitemaps on its own site.
The documented fix
Serve UTF-8; shorten or restructure very long URLs; host every listed sitemap on the index's own site.
Sources, quoted
These are the passages the rule rests on, stored once in the knowledge base and emitted exactly as written. A citation marked for specific conditions appears only on findings with those codes.
“The file itself must be UTF-8 encoded.”
[SITEMAPS-ORG] Sitemaps XML format (protocol) · Sitemaps XML format · last updated 2016-11-21 · for not_utf8
https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html“This value must be less than 2,048 characters.”
[SITEMAPS-ORG] Sitemaps XML format (protocol) · XML tag definitions (loc) · last updated 2016-11-21 · for loc_too_long
https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html“A Sitemap index file can only specify Sitemaps that are found on the same site as the Sitemap index file.”
[SITEMAPS-ORG] Sitemaps XML format (protocol) · Using Sitemap index files · last updated 2016-11-21 · for index_child_out_of_scope
https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html