A well-structured and organized website is key to your business appearing on search engine results pages (SERPs) whenever target customers search for your products or services. Often, this means regularly updating your website with fresh and relevant content, as well as optimizing its elements for search engines.

However, there may come a time when you need to remove URLs from Google’s search engine index.

This article will help you understand why this is necessary, how it’s done, and why tools like Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster) are necessary for the process.

Why remove URLs from Google’s search index?

A uniform resource locator (URL) denotes a specific page on a website. Think of it as a unique address for each page on your website. Google’s search index is a massive database of URLs from websites all over the Internet. Every time a user searches for something, Google’s bots crawl through this database to display web pages relevant to the query.

You might think your SEO strategy should focus on having all your website’s URLs listed on the search engine index, but there are times when that would be unideal. Here are some examples:

• Outdated content. As you update your website with fresh content, certain pages will eventually become irrelevant or outdated. These could be blog posts with outdated information, posts for past events, or pages for products you no longer sell.

• Duplicate content. Removing duplicate content is one of the main priorities in technical search engine optimization (SEO). Duplicate content occurs when multiple pages contain the same information, leading to search engines being confused about which pages to index.

• Sensitive information. Publishing confidential information, such as internal business documents or customers’ personal data, on your website can lead to security risks and privacy violations. Thus, removing pages containing them should be a priority.

• Low-quality content. Poorly made content—whether spammy, thin, or containing irrelevant information—can hurt your website’s authority and credibility. An SEO audit can identify these content and help you remove them from your site.

Additionally, there may come a time when you decide to rebrand your business or shift your focus to a different set of products and services. Such a change means some or all of your URLs no longer align with your business’s offerings and goals, hence the need to remove them.

How can you remove URLs from the index?

Depending on the reason for removal, you could ask for URLs in your website to be temporarily or permanently excluded from the search engine index. Here are the ways to do it:

Use Google Search Console’s URL removal tool

Google Search Console lets you track and manage your website’s presence in Google’s search results. One of its features is the ability to request the temporary removal of URLs, which is done through the following steps:

1. Sign in to Google Search Console.
2. Go to the Removals section found under the Index menu.
3. Click New Request and enter the URL to be removed.
4. Confirm your request.

This method temporarily hides the URL from Google’s search index for about six months. Permanently removing URLs requires a different set of steps.

Implement the “noindex” meta tag

The “noindex” meta tag instructs search engines not to record a specific page. It keeps the page accessible but prevents it from appearing on search results. You’d want to use this tag for pages like those created for internal use and testing.

To implement the “noindex” tag, go to the HTML of the page you want to remove and add this line:

You should then use Google Search Console to ask Google to recrawl the page.

Use 301 redirects

Imagine you have a webpage for a product or service your business no longer offers. Because this page has been around for some time, it already has backlinks and has been indexed by Google. Supposing you delete this page, users who try to access it will encounter a dead link (404 error), resulting in a poor experience. Backlinks to the page will also become useless.

You can avoid the negative SEO repercussions of 404 errors by using 301 redirects. Essentially, a redirect tells search engines and users that the page they’re trying to access is no longer available. It then points them to a new and relevant page, such as a new version of the removed product. The backlinks of the removed page will also redirect to the new one, preserving their SEO value.

Use the HTTP 410 status code

This method is ideal for URLs you won’t be using again, such as pages for one-time events or time-limited promotions. Unlike 301 redirects, the HTTP 410 (Gone) status code tells search engines that the URL is no longer available and won’t be returning.

Over time, Google will drop pages with a “Gone” status entirely from its index.

Use robots.txt to block URLs

If there are versions of your website you don’t want search engines to index, such as admin pages or particular directories, you can use a “robots.txt” file to prevent crawlers from accessing these areas. This file is placed on your website’s root directory and tells search engines which part of your site to crawl and index.

Here’s an example:

However, this method cannot remove a URL already listed in Google’s search engine index. A robots.txt file is best used along with the other methods on this list.

Conduct regular SEO audits

It’s easy to lose track of which URLs are still useful and which need removal, especially as your site grows in size and scope. An SEO audit reviews your site’s overall health and can uncover key issues impacting SEO performance, including pages that need to be improved or removed.

Removing irrelevant, low-quality, or outdated URLs is crucial to keeping your website clean and organized and achieving high search rankings. It also ensures your site delivers a better user experience, making it a win-win for both search engines and your audience.

Needless to say, removing URLs requires some tech SEO expertise. Many small and medium business owners hire a tech SEO agency to ensure that their website is being managed correctly. Following the same strategy keeps your business in top shape while giving you more time to focus on core business matters.

Don’t let technical issues hold you back from ranking higher in search results and growing your business!