Most of the time, SEOs aim to get content indexed by Google.
Once Google indexes a page, you can start your journey to achieve higher rankings on the search engine. However, there are rare instances where this might be unwanted.
In such scenarios, you can take the easier route—deleting or restricting access to the content and waiting for it to disappear from search results eventually. This has a drawback since the process may be time-consuming.
In dire cases when you cannot wait, removing the URL from Google’s SERP may be necessary.
Common Reasons For Removing URLs From Google
A few cases where you may want to remove URLs include:
1. You Have Duplicate Content on Your Website
Duplicate content can sometimes arise from technical issues, such as one article having two different URLs.
It can also happen if you copy existing content from a source for your site.
When several URLs lead to the same content, Google gives them lower rankings since it does not know which to rank higher.
It’s also possible to have duplicate content without your knowledge in cases where web admins or third-party sites republish your content without permission.
2. Your Content is Out-Of-Date
When a website houses extensive data and has been running for a long time, it’s normal for some content to become irrelevant.
Outdated content can include:
- Products that are discontinued or out of stock
- Old job postings
- Profiles of former employees
- Expired promotions
As per Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, content with “inaccurate/meaningless information” shows poor quality.
Low-quality content leads to lower rankings. Therefore, having outdated content on your site can be a burden.
3. Your Staging Environment Got Indexed
It is a common problem endured by multiple developers. Having your staging environment indexed and revealed to the world while building a website can be embarrassing.
Besides being unprofessional, it also leads to duplicate content issues that harm your ranking.
4. Your Site Has Been Hacked And Contains Spam
Although it doesn’t happen often, websites can occasionally be hacked. This can lead to spam content appearing on your pages, which Google continues to crawl and index.
Removing the URL from Google is the best option to keep your customers from accessing such spam while you work on regaining ownership of your site.
5. Your Site Contains Private Information
If your site contains confidential information about you or your colleagues, keeping the site from being indexed is crucial.
When Google indexes a page, the information becomes public. If private information about your company is publicized, you may be in an unpleasant situation. It’s best to remove your URL to avoid such inconveniences.
Whether you are a developer tired of having your test environment indexed or an SEO looking to boost your rankings by deleting outdated content—there are multiple ways of removing URLs from Google.
Effective Ways to Remove URLs From Google Search
Before attempting to remove an URL, realizing that the cure depends on the cause is essential.
There are multiple ways to go about this, and your success depends on your ability to choose the correct method.
Not only will your SEO suffer if you choose the wrong technique, but you can also receive contradictory results.
That said, let’s look at some methods.
1. Using Google Search Console
Google has its own service to help owners remove URLs from SERPs. Completely free and easy to use, Google Search Console allows users to track and troubleshoot their web presence in search results.
With an array of tools that help track traffic, check keyword performance, improve SEO, and fix errors, Google Search Console is an indispensable tool.
However, you must first add and verify your site to use this service.
How to Submit And Verify Your Site?
Step 1: Go to https://search.google.com/search-console
Step 2: Click on “Start Now.”
Step 3: Log in with your Gmail account.
Step 4: Enter the URL of your website’s homepage under the “URL prefix” and click Continue. Remember to add http/https and www if needed.
Step 5: Fill in the necessary details to verify your website’s ownership.
There are several ways to verify your website. These include HTML files, HTML tags, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Domain Name Provider.
Use the best method to prove your domain’s ownership to Google.
Step-by-Step Guide on Removing URLs From Google With Google Search Console
Step 1: Go to this link https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/url-removal and click on Remove URLs
Step 2: Under “Please select a property,” select your website.
Step 3: Select the grey button, fill in your URL, and click “Continue.”
Step 4: Select ‘Submit Request.’
Once you have registered your request, you can expect your URL to be removed from Google search and cache within three months.
The problem with this method, however, is that it’s temporary. There are high chances of Google reindexing your URL. If this happens, the URL will continue to be live on your website after three months.
Drawbacks of Temporary URL Removals
To choose between temporary and permanent removal methods, you must consider some limitations of the former. These include:
- Temporary removals last a maximum of six months.
- These removals only hide the URLs from search results and clear the cached data of the site.
- Temporarily removing an URL does not prevent its reindexing in the future.
- Such removals do not fix the underlying causes of an unwanted URL.
2. Utilizing The Noindex Meta Tag
Noindex is a meta tag instructing search engines not to index a page. By adding this tag, you can prevent your page from showing up on search results.
It is one of the most effective and commonly used methods of removing URLs from Google. The technique also works if you wish to hide a page from search results but keep it on your website.
How to Add The Noindex Meta Tag to Your Page?
If you have the HTML code for your website, you can manually type in the meta robots noindex tag.
It should look like this:
<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>
If you don’t have access to the HTML code, you can use the SEO plugin of your content management systems to place the meta tag on a page. For example, you can use Yoast SEO to noindex individual posts and pages on WordPress.
To make Google register your noindex tag, it must be allowed to crawl the page. Ensure this by allowing access to the robots.txt file.
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Advantages And Disadvantages of Using The noindex Meta Tag
The advantages of using the noindex meta tag are:
- It makes search engine crawlers focus on the most relevant content on your website.
- Both individual pages and all website pages can be removed using this tag.
- It prevents the indexing of duplicate content.
Some disadvantages of the noindex meta tag include:
- Applying the tag to relevant, SEO boosting, and valuable pages accidentally.
- Removing pages with important information from search results and hampering revenues.
3. Using The URL Removal Tool
This tool can be found in Google Search Console to remove a page temporarily.
With this tool, you cannot deindex your webpage but hide the URL from appearing in search results for six months.
The Removal tool also allows you to see a history of removal requests for your site and check if any of your URLs have been reported for sensitive or adult content.
When to Use The URL Removal Tool?
This method of removal helps if:
- You need to remove a page immediately: Since the URL removal tool deletes a page from search results within 24 hours, it’s the best method in situations where you have accidentally posted confidential information, or hackers have targeted your site.
- You wish to remove multiple pages: If you’re waiting for Google to register your noindex tag, the process can be time-consuming since it takes the search engine a considerable amount of time to crawl multiple pages. Instead, you can remove several pages simultaneously with the URL removal tool.
- You have updated your website and wish to remove outdated content from the meta description: Since the URL removal tool deletes caches, your meta description will be removed until the page is crawled in the future.
- You aren’t aware of your site’s server: The URL removal tool can easily remove URLs from Google without configuring a server or typing in codes.
A Step-by-Step Guide on Using The URL Removal Tool
For individual pages:
Step 1: Go to Google Search Console and select your website.
Step 2: On the left-hand menu, click on “Removals.”
Step 3: Click on “New Request” and enter your URL. Ensure you enter the URL exactly as it appears on the search results.
Step 4: Select “Remove the page from search results and cache.”
Step 5: Click Submit and wait 24 hours before checking if your request has been processed.
For multiple pages, repeat steps 1 and 2. Then:
Step 3: Click on ‘New Request’ and enter the prefix of the URLs you wish to remove.
Step 4: Select ‘Remove directory” and click “Submit request.”
Take extra caution while removing multiple pages to avoid accidentally removing a helpful page.
4. Deleting Your content
If you’re sure you no longer want a page on your website, you can entirely delete it, which will remove it from Google’s indexing lists.
Your deleted page will show a 404 error as a result.
Once the page has been deleted, it will take a few days for Google to crawl it and remove the URL from SERPs.
Suppose the page in question contains valuable information or inbound links. In that case, opting for a 301 redirect instead of a 404 error page is considered a better SEO practice.
5. 301 Redirect
A 301 redirect indicates the permanent moving of a web page from one URL to another.
Users who click on an old URL will be automatically redirected to a new one.
Using WordPress, you can easily create this with the Redirection plugin.
6. Prevent Google From Crawling Images
Images are a common reason for pages getting indexed. Once Google has indexed an image, the entire page will also be automatically indexed.
Therefore, by preventing Google from crawling images, you can keep your pages from unwanted indexation, which ultimately helps remove URLs from Google.
The easiest way to do this is by using a robots.txt file.
At the root of your site, you can add the following instructions:
To prevent The crawling of a Single Image:
User-agent: Googlebot-Image
Disallow: /images/dogs.jpg
To prevent The crawling of All images:
User-agent: Googlebot-Image
Disallow: /
Note: that solely barring Google from crawling images may not be enough to hide them from SERPs. Additional tools like the URL Removal tool and noindex tag may also be required.
7. Protecting Your Site by Restricting Access
To keep your website private from unauthorized users and search engines, you can create the following:
- A login system.
- HTTP Authentication, wherein users must provide an ID and password to access your content.
- IP Whitelisting – which allows only specific IP addresses to access your pages and also provides additional security.
Popular Mistakes to Avoid While Removing URLs From Google
Avoid these errors while removing URLs from Google:
1. Using Robots.txt to Block an URL From Being Crawled
Preventing an URL from being crawled by blocking it with the robots.txt file forbids Google from crawling it in the future but does not remove it from Google’s indexing list.
2. Using Robots.txt After Removing URLs
This is a common error inexperienced SEO professionals make. Remember that blocking Google from crawling your page after you have removed the URL prevents it from registering the removal. Only by crawling your page can Google realize that the URL has been removed, proceeding to withdraw it from search results.
If you want to use the robots.txt file to prevent future crawling and indexation, do so after ensuring that the URLs were deleted from SERPs.
3. Incorrectly Using The URL Removal Tool
Site owners often fail to realize that the URL removal tool only temporarily hides URLs from search results for six months but does not delete them from Google’s index.
4. Accidentally Removing URLs With Valuable Information
While removing multiple URLs, take a moment and ensure that none of the pages contains useful information. Accidentally removing important pages can harm SEO and wreak havoc on a business.
Final Words
As mentioned earlier, which method you use to remove URLs depends on your situation. Before deciding on one, carefully analyze its benefits and drawbacks to prevent counterintuitive effects.
We advise you to update and monitor your online presence periodically. This will prevent situations wherein you may need to remove an URL in the first place.
Check your site for outdated content, strengthen your cybersecurity, and prevent unwanted search results from hampering your digital image.
