XML declaration error

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Rank Math support and we apologize for any trouble you are facing with your sitemap.

The issue you are seeing is caused by an XML declaration error on your sitemap. This means that there is some extra content or whitespace before the XML declaration in your sitemap file. This can make your sitemap invalid and unreadable by search engines.

The most common reason for this error is a whitespace in your theme code, such as a blank line or space in your wp-config.php file or your theme’s functions.php file. This can happen when you edit these files manually or use a plugin or theme that modifies them.

To fix this error, you need to find and remove the whitespace from your theme code. You can follow this guide to troubleshoot and resolve this issue: https://rankmath.com/kb/fix-sitemap-issues/#xml-text-declaration

If you are not comfortable editing your theme code, you can also contact your hosting provider and ask them to check your website files for you. They should be able to locate and remove the whitespace for you.

Alternatively, if you have some technical skills, you can also use this script to automatically fix this error: https://wejn.org/stuff/wejnswpwhitespacefix.php.html

Please let us know if this helps you fix the XML declaration error on your sitemap. If you have any questions or issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us again. We are always here to assist you.

Thank you for choosing Rank Math for your SEO needs.