However, not all content is meant to be on Google forever. There may be pages on your website that you no longer want to be accessible to the public. Or perhaps you notice some unwanted URLs tagged along with your site on the SERPs.
If you want to clean out these distracting clutters to showcase the real gems, here’s our guide on how to remove URLs from Google.
Why Should You Remove URLs From Google?
It's essential to strike a balance between making as much information available as possible and maintaining a high-quality, professional, and clean online presence.
There are many reasons you might decide to remove a URL from Google search. By understanding why and when to remove URLs from Google, you can ensure the right content is out there representing you or your business.
Here are some common scenarios:
🚩 Outdated or Irrelevant Content: The content might be outdated or no longer relevant. For example, product pages for items no longer available or old blog posts with information that's no longer accurate.
🚩 Duplicate Content: Your site might have multiple pages with similar or duplicate content. Such pages can dilute the ranking power of your main content.
🚩 Plagiarized Content: If any of your content appears to be plagiarized and you're unable to revise it, you should remove it.
🚩 Sensitive Content: You might have accidentally uploaded content that contains sensitive information. In such instances, it becomes crucial for the respective URLs to be removed.
🚩 Spam or Hacked Content: Your site might get hacked, and the hacker might add spam or harmful content. Such URLs should be immediately removed.
🚩 Staging or Testing Sites: If your staging or testing site got indexed by Google, you should remove these URLs as they can cause duplicate content issues and other SEO problems.
🚩 After Major Site Changes: If you've done a major site overhaul, deleting old pages, or moving content, you might want to remove old URLs to help Google and searchers see your new structure.
How Can You Prepare to Remove URLs From Google?
Like a well-tended garden, your website needs to be ready before you can effectively weed out unwanted URLs.
Here are the essentials steps to prepare properly:
1) Ensure Access to the Google Search Console Account
First, you need to have a Google Search Console account. If you don’t have one, it's easy and free to sign up.
If your site already has a Google Search Console account, ensure that you have access to your site's Google Search Console. This is a Google tool that helps you understand and improve how Google sees your website.
Your website must be verified on Google Search Console. This ensures you are the authorized owner or administrator of the site.
🔥 You may want to see: Google Search Console vs Google Analytics
2) Find the Correct URL for Blocking
If you accidentally remove the wrong URL, you could block an important page from appearing in the search results. So it's crucial to find the accurate URL that you want to remove.
Navigate through your website and make a list of any pages or URLs you think need to be removed. Prioritize URLs based on their impact on your site. For example, pages with sensitive or harmful content should be a priority.
Use Google Search Console to confirm the existence of issues, like 404 errors, that could be leading to URL problems.
Lastly, make sure you have the exact URL. A single typo could lead to blocking the wrong page!
🔥 Read our blog post: How to Find & Fix Broken Links in Google Search Console
3) Check if the URL is Indexed
Before you remove a URL, it's wise to know if it's even in Google's index. The presence of any URL in Google's index means it may appear in search results – and if we don't want it there, it's time for action!
The quickest way is to search your site's URL with the 'site:' search operator. Simply type 'site:' followed by your domain (for example, 'site:yourdomain.com.') into Google search. The search results page displays a list of pages from your site that are in the index.
Alternatively, the URL Inspection tool within the Google Search Console provides insights about Google's indexed version of a specific page.
You can also easily use SEOmator’s Free Website Crawl Test to determine whether your website is indexable for Google and Bing.
4) Avoid Common Mistakes
Don't rush to remove URLs that have temporary issues. If a page has a problem that can be fixed, it's often better to correct the issue rather than remove the page completely.
Don't use the URL removal tool for canonicalization—use a 301 redirect instead.
Also, noindex and blocking access to content (such as with robots.txt) does not remove a URL from Google's index; it merely tells Google not to crawl it.
Be cautious when blocking URLs so as not to accidentally block URLs that you want Google to index.
🔥 Read our blog post: 301 Redirect or URL Canonicalization 🤔
How Can You Remove URLs from Google?
After preparing, now it’s time to understand how to actually remove URLs from Google.
Each URL type has its unique character and requires a specific strategy for effective management.
Let’s explore the removal processes for each scenario:
Removing URLs of Duplicate or Outdated Content
Duplicates can lead to unnecessary dilution of your SEO profile, and outdated content is just bad business irrespective of the field. Here's how you can eliminate these pesky elements:
Use Google Search Console's Page Indexing report to identify duplicate or outdated URLs. This report lists pages that Google could or couldn't be indexed and the reasons why.
Once you have identified these URLs, click Removals on the left column and then the New Request button. Simply enter the URL you want to remove.
For duplicate pages, consider setting up a 301 redirect to the main version of the page. This way, Google understands which version is the preferred one.
For outdated content, update the page with fresh and relevant detail and request Google to re-crawl and index the page.
Removing Staging Environment URLs
Staging URLs are those connected to test versions of your site that you wouldn't want the public to stumble onto. They may confuse visitors or dilute the value of your actual site.
Review your website's structure and make a note of all staging environment URLs. Use the robots.txt file to block search engines from accessing your staging site.
Add noindex meta tags to the staging site's pages. This informs Google not to index these pages.
You can also use Google Search Console's URL removal tool to remove any staging URLs that have already been indexed.
🔥 Read our blog post: How to Fix 'Crawled-Currently Not Indexed' Issue in GSC
Removing Spammy URLs
In the unfortunate event that your site gets hacked, or spam content is published, immediate action should be taken to remove these URLs.
You can use Google Search Console's Security and Manual Actions report to identify spam URLs.
Once you identify the spammy URLs you need to remove, remove them using the URL removal tool.
Clean your website of spam content or anything harmful that has been added and improve your site's security to prevent such incidents in the future.
Removing URLs with Sensitive Content
Sometimes, sensitive information could mistakenly get published and indexed.
Double-check the URL and content to confirm that it is indeed sensitive information and use the URL removal tool to immediately remove these URLs from the Google search.
If the sensitive content includes copyrighted material or other legal issues, consider using Google’s legal removal requests process.
Removing Content That's Not on Your Site
Unwanted content from other domains may also appear in a Google search for your site.
In such cases, you can contact the site's owner and politely ask them to remove the unwanted content.
If the content violates copyright laws, you can file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request.
If it involves sensitive personal information, you can request the removal through Google’s Legal removal process.
Conclusion
Not all content is designed to stay perpetually; some lose relevance over time and some unintentionally become problematic. In such cases, it’s best to remove these URLs from Google.
In our guide, we learned how each type of URL required a distinctive approach—be it handling URLs with duplicate or outdated content, dealing with URLs from the staging environment, swatting away spam URLs, handling URLs with sensitive content, or tackling URLs that are not on your site.
Following the right protocols, and getting handy with the nifty Google tools, nothing can stand in our way to remove unwanted URLs from appearing in the SERPs!
🔥 See also:
- Crawl Depth: What Is It & How to Make It More Efficient
- Can You Remove a Google Review?
- How Often Does Google Crawl a Site? -Factors & Ways to Learn
