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XML sitemaps for a language school
21 Nov 2024
How a language school deals with XML sitemaps — and what usually goes wrong.
The problem: HTTP bookmarks after a forced HTTPS move. This breaks XML sitemaps for a language school.
Our own site had HTTP bookmarks after a forced HTTPS move for three days before a colleague noticed. We added it to the pre-launch checklist the same afternoon.
We found HTTP bookmarks after a forced HTTPS move during a routine check of XML sitemaps. The site had been leaking referrer data for six weeks before anyone noticed.
Early on we tried to automate XML sitemaps for a language school with a cron job. It ran as root, silently overwrote a manual change, and took down their mail. Lesson learned.
A friend of the owner at a language school had set up XML sitemaps years ago. When we audited, the config still pointed at a server they stopped paying for in 2024.
Instead of migrating XML sitemaps all at once, we ran both configurations in parallel for a week. The switch happened on a Wednesday morning — the quietest traffic window.
After fixing XML sitemaps, we added a monitoring alert. If the record changes or the certificate approaches expiry, both we and a language school get an email. No surprises.
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