Why isn't Google crawling my sitemap on pause and build plan?

[austinseo]

I am building a blog using shopify and then will change it into an online store when I get the right amount of traffic. For this reason I am on the pause and build plan, since I don't need checkout. 

Once I swicthed plans my sitemap is not being cawled by google. I am receiving a "General HTTP error" when I try o submit my sitemap.

Can someone help tell me how to solve this issue?

[Imogen]

Hey there, @austinseo. Thanks for reaching out to the Shopify Community with your sitemap situation! It's nice to meet you!

Thanks for providing all of the context you have here. I just have a few questions I'm hoping you can answer so I can dive in a bit deeper for you here:

• Can you provide a URL to your store for us?
• Do you currently have a storefront password page enabled for your shop?

The reason why I asked about the password page is because this password page will inhibit Google's ability to crawl sites. I actually enabled this page for my own test store as it was appearing in Google's rankings and I totally didn't want people seeing my broken store. 😂

For your sitemap submission error, are you seeing any other information that may indicate a more specific error? Are you seeing any codes or anything? A screenshot of the error you're getting would be helpful, just so we have a bit more of a clearer picture into that side of your question.

Get back to me when you can with the requested info! I'll keep my eyes peeled for your reply.

[austinseo]

okay thank you. what do you need from me?

[Imogen]

Hi again, @austinseo. Thanks for replying!

What information I need from you is the following:

• A link to your website
• Can you tell me if you have your storefront password page enabled? 

I have a screenshot, as well as some steps for you below, so you can tell if your storefront page is enabled. (I can check myself with a URL to your wesite, but this works, too.)

• Login to your admin
• Click on 'Online Store' in the left hand menu
• Click 'Preferences' under 'Online Store'
• Scroll down and check if the 'Restrict Access to Visitors Without Passwords' is checked off.

Get back to me when you can with this information, and I'll be able to determine some next steps for you here. Hope to hear from you soon!

[austinseo]

my store is tryspearfishing.com. No password is there.

[Imogen]

Hey again, @austinseo. Thanks for following up with me.

Loaded up your site and can confirm there's no storefront password page. So this suggests you shouldn't be having an issue having your site crawled. I ended up jumping into Google's Search Engine to look up your site and found you in the top ranked spot when searching the words in your site name.

 This means that Google's bots are hitting your site and crawling, so now our big issue is the fact that you're encountering an error submitting your sitemap. 

You mentioned you're getting a general HTTP error - can you try uploading your sitemap using a private viewing browser (i.e an incognito browser in chrome) and let me know if you still get the error? 

If you are still getting the error, can you share with me the wording that is provided in the error that Google returns? This can help me pinpoint the specific issue and what next steps look like.

Give the private browsing steps a try and follow up with me here!