Title: Yoast Sitemap Errors Last modified: September 4, 2021 --- # Yoast Sitemap Errors * Resolved [Anthony](https://wordpress.org/support/users/achiaravallogmailcom/) * (@achiaravallogmailcom) * [4 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/yoast-sitemap-errors/) * Hello Yoast Community, * I am having an issue with my WordPress site in which Google is indexing and showing an old PDF document from 2014 in a search engine result sublink for our brand name (see screenshot link below). The PDF file is nowhere to be found in the site media library or in the site database. * Website: [https://www.consciousconnectionmagazine.com](https://www.consciousconnectionmagazine.com) File that is showing up: [https://www.consciousconnectionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CONSCIOUS-CONNECTION-MEDIA-KIT-2014.pdf](https://www.consciousconnectionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CONSCIOUS-CONNECTION-MEDIA-KIT-2014.pdf) Link to SERP screenshot: [https://snipboard.io/BFODlG.jpg](https://snipboard.io/BFODlG.jpg) Host: Cloudways * According to my host the file is nowhere on the database so they are recommending to update the site index and sitemap. Yet from what I can see the sitemap is configured as it should be. What else can be done to remove this old file from the SERPs? * Thank you in advance for any advisement on this. * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fyoast-sitemap-errors%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US) to see the link]_ Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total) * [Md Mazedul Islam Khan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mazedulislamkhan/) * (@mazedulislamkhan) * [4 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/yoast-sitemap-errors/#post-14839437) * What you can do is set `noindex` to the relevant PDF file HTTP header so that the search engine can see that you don’t want the relevant page to be indexed. * Alternatively, you could create a redirect from the relevant PDF file to any other most relevant page on your website that will signal the search engine the relevant PDF file is no longer exist on your website and will eventually drop it from the search results. * [Suwash Kunwar](https://wordpress.org/support/users/suascat_wp/) * (@suascat_wp) * [4 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/yoast-sitemap-errors/#post-14839444) * [@achiaravallogmailcom](https://wordpress.org/support/users/achiaravallogmailcom/) * It seems that a particular _CONSCIOUS-CONNECTION-MEDIA-KIT-2014.pdf_ is still in this server path * `wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CONSCIOUS-CONNECTION-MEDIA-KIT-2014.pdf` * We understand you want this file to be removed from the search results. You can do so by adding an x-robots tag in the .htaccess file: * For example: * ``` SetEnvIf Request_URI "/path/to/example.pdf" NOINDEX Header set X-Robots-Tag "noindex, nofollow" env=NOINDEX ``` * You can check this link and find more information here:[https://yoast.com/x-robots-tag-play/](https://yoast.com/x-robots-tag-play/) * Thread Starter [Anthony](https://wordpress.org/support/users/achiaravallogmailcom/) * (@achiaravallogmailcom) * [4 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/yoast-sitemap-errors/#post-14840081) * Thank you for the replies. It appears you need Yoast premium to setup a redirect? * I am also not clear how to exactly add an x-robots or noindex tag in the .htaccess file. * We are also unable to locate the file anywhere on the server or database. * It does appear that the PDF is now gone from Google search, but still lives online. This may just be a normal fluctuation in Google’s algorithm? * [devnihil](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devnihil/) * (@devnihil) * [4 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/yoast-sitemap-errors/#post-14840296) * [@achiaravallogmailcom](https://wordpress.org/support/users/achiaravallogmailcom/) We’ve addressed each of your concerns individually below: * > It appears you need Yoast premium to setup a redirect? * Yes, that is correct. However, if you don’t want to purchase Yoast SEO Premium to create the redirect there are many free plugins available in the WordPress plugin repository [here](https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/redirect/) that will also allow you to create redirects. * > We are also unable to locate the file anywhere on the server or database. * As previously stated, we were able to locate a copy of the PDF that is available on your site at the following URL: [https://www.consciousconnectionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CONSCIOUS-CONNECTION-MEDIA-KIT-2014.pdf](https://www.consciousconnectionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CONSCIOUS-CONNECTION-MEDIA-KIT-2014.pdf) * > It does appear that the PDF is now gone from Google search, but still lives > online. This may just be a normal fluctuation in Google’s algorithm? * In order to ensure that the PDF is not shown again in the Google search results, we would recommend creating either a redirect or implementing the aforementioned code in your site’s **.htaccess** file to place a `noindex` tag in the PDF’s header. * [devnihil](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devnihil/) * (@devnihil) * [4 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/yoast-sitemap-errors/#post-14863629) * We are going ahead and marking this issue as resolved due to inactivity. If you require any further assistance please create a new issue. Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total) The topic ‘Yoast Sitemap Errors’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/wordpress-seo/assets/icon-256x256.gif?rev=3419908) * [Yoast SEO - Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-seo/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-seo/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-seo/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/wordpress-seo/reviews/) * 5 replies * 4 participants * Last reply from: [devnihil](https://wordpress.org/support/users/devnihil/) * Last activity: [4 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/yoast-sitemap-errors/#post-14863629) * Status: resolved