Background of the issue:
I am trying to resolve a multilingual SEO and indexing problem where search engines have de-indexed almost all non-English pages (DE, FR, IT, LU) on my website. Previously, all language versions were correctly indexed. I discovered that Google Search Console lost all language-specific URLs from its index, and only the main English URLs remained. I checked the `robots.txt` file and found no changes. The root cause seems to be that the sitemap file was not being submitted to or read by search engines, likely due to an issue with Rankmath SEO. I followed the Rankmath configuration for sitemap generation, forced a sitemap update, and re-submitted the sitemap to Google Search Console. Despite these actions, the indexing issue persists. Google Search Console reports a specific error for all non-EN pages, indicating a canonical tag issue. I confirm that all pages have the appropriate `hreflang` annotations. I am ready to provide full access to the WordPress administration panel for further investigation. I am located in the European time zone (GMT+1/CEST for Paris).
Symptoms:
Google Search Console reports that very few pages are being indexed, with a specific error for non-EN pages: 'Page is not indexed' due to 'User-declared canonical: hostname/page-name'. The sitemap reports '0' videos, but the site has 3 videos, suggesting incomplete sitemap generation.
Questions:
Why are non-English pages not being indexed despite the sitemap being updated?
How can I resolve the canonical tag issue for non-EN pages?
Why does the sitemap report '0' videos when there are 3 videos on the site?
What further steps can I take to ensure all language versions are indexed correctly?
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)
Hi,
could you please provide us with a few examples of pages that are not being indexed? We’d like to double-check whether a “noindex” flag or similar directive is set on them. The robots.txt file itself looks good.
The sitemap itself looks fine, too. The page sitemap was updated today: hidden link.
hello
honestly all non eng pages
if my main english page is olivemare.it
and looking into google search console i could not see any other pages or sub pages in english, and not all
so any pages starting with
olivemare.it/de/
olivemare.it/fr/
olivemare.it/it/
olivemare.it/lu/
or any post
example hidden link
it is indexed , that is what rankmath pro tells me and keys are set the index is flagged
olivemare.it/it/ is indexed
google says it is indexanle but
User-declared canonical
info hidden link
and if the related page in other languages are all indexed but google search always catalog it to the main page en hidden link hidden link hidden link hidden link
google indexing is accepted and after some days I cannot see it as (i think) the indexing works but the canonical page is hidden link
I have some doubts about rankmath that may pull out wrong info
i have open a ticket as well but they are fare less proactive as Wpml Support
Rankmath is the EEO plugin that should set all href for keywords meta tags etc it could be that it created wrong indez pages but i just guessing , for the moment i still use rankmath pro the only problem thay do not look at is that editing anything will crash if Pro is enabled or the new Version of Rankmath is installed , previous version works fine
i do not want to reuse a new SEO aa Yoast and loose all the work
our business is related to multilinuage and it is our main selling point
maybe that help you
or you could still ask to access as admin the page to look deeper
tanks for you quick response
marco
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )German (Deutsch )
Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+02:00)
Hi Marco,
thank you for the details. After reviewing your sitemap and the URLs you shared, I don’t see any technical issue on WPML’s side. All translated pages are correctly generated, included in the sitemap, and publicly accessible. The multilingual structure looks normal.
What we can confirm
- The sitemap is correct and contains all languages.
- Robots.txt is clean.
- All translated pages load with proper hreflang tags.
- No related “noindex” output.
So WPML is working as expected. The issue appears to be on Google/SEO plugin side:
- Google is choosing the EN page as canonical
- Search Console shows: “User-declared canonical: hidden link
This means Google is overriding the canonical of your translated pages and treating the English version as the “main” page. WPML cannot influence this behavior, or: your sitemap was previously not generated or submitted
Because RankMath had issues creating the sitemap, Google may have temporarily “lost” the multilingual URLs. When this happens, Google needs time to recover and re-index them. If RankMath outputs an incorrect canonical for translated pages, Google will follow RankMath’s output. This must be fixed within RankMath.
Check the canonical tag of each language page to ensure it points to itself (RankMath setting). If you want, you can share temporary admin access privately, and I can check the RankMath settings and canonical output directly.
Best regards,
Marcel
The topic ‘[Closed] Multilingual SEO & Indexing Problem’ is closed to new replies.
