Google Webmaster Tools Sitemap errors for phantom urls?

[IanTheScot]

Two weeks ago we changed our urls so the correct addresses are all lowercase. Everything else 301 redirects to those. We have submitted and made sure that Google has downloaded our updated sitemap several times since.

Even so, Webmaster Tools is reporting 33000 + errors in our sitemap for urls that are no longer in our sitemap and haven't been for weeks. It claims to have found the errors within the last couple of days but the sitemap has been updated for a couple of weeks and has been downloaded by Google at least three times since.

Here is our sitemap: http://www.aquinasandmore.com/urllist.xml

Here are a couple of urls that Webmaster Tools says are in the sitemap:

http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-gifts/Caroline-Gerhardinger-Large-Sterling-Silver-Medal/sku/78664
Redirect error

unavailable
Oct 7, 2011
http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-gifts/Catherine-of-Bologna-Small-Gold-Filled-Medal/sku/78706
Redirect error

unavailable
Oct 7, 2011

[RyanKent]

I was unable to locate the URLs listed in your sitemap. If you Google WMT tools settings are correct and the sitemap which you have shared is the same one listed in your Google WMT account, then these links should not appear going forward.

You would need to examine your Google WMT account closely to determine the exact source of these errors.

Where exactly within your Google WMT are you seeing these errors? How are you identifying the source of these URLs are being from your sitemap?

Two weeks ago we changed our urls so the correct addresses are all lowercase.

There are many URLs in your site map which are not lower case. An example:

http://www.aquinasandmore.com/title/Brian-Kolodiejchuk/FuseAction/store.AuthorSearch/Author/2337/

Also you share a lot of image URLs which are not lower case either.

I would not necessarily advise cleaning up the entire site, but at least establish the best practice going forward.

[IanTheScot]

"then these links should not appear going forward." - They are showing up now even though Google says they have our latest sitemap and that the errors were found yesterday. How long does the actual data usually take to catch up with what WMT says is current?

The image urls are built from the actual title on the fly and don't 301 so those aren't a problem. The other one you mentioned does need to be cleaned up in the site map. Thanks for catching that.

These errors are showing up when I go to the crawl errors section and click the sitemap tab. Yes, the sitemap I shared is the same one in WMT.

[RyanKent]

How long does the actual data usually take to catch up with what WMT says is current?

I have not experienced any delay before. There should only be one sitemap record for your site at any time. That record could be composed of multiple files, but it is one collection of records.

When Google identifies crawl errors, those errors should be generated from the sitemap on file at the time of the error. There is a view sitemap option in Google WMT you can use to see the sitemap they have on file. This step would be next. If you can confirm the bad URL does not appear in the sitemap, I would then wait to see if the issue re-appears after today, October 11th.

I know this is frustrating but the system is very straight forward. I cannot explain why a URL not included in your sitemap would appear on your sitemap crawl errors tab. The only two possibilities I can come with is either you have made an error when sharing some information, or there is an unusual glitch on Google's end.

With all the above noted, working with sitemaps is not a good investment of your time. If your site navigation is properly designed, your sitemap offers no benefit whatsoever.