Google Natural Links

[chris]

I say Google but basically all SEs.
I still have natural links for products showing in SEs that have been removed from my website up to 2 years ago.
When people click they get to the page but because it is no longer there/active, they do not know why they can not proceed.
Anyone any idea how you can 'clear out' outdated links in SEs please?

[funkydorydawn]

I've no idea how you can clear them out, but can you change the "no link" landing page to something really exciting that suggests they go "here" or "here"...have no idea how to do it, but remember a seminar I went to where that was one of the suggestions.


Or maybe re-submit your sitemap?

[elkatie]

Could you do this in webmaster tools? I saw a bit in there that you can tell it to remove old pages, not sure exactly where now, sorry.

[BellaMiller]

Yep - it's in Google Webmaster Tools - I had to use this a lot when a site of mine was spammed.

You need to add some code to your site to access it - it's a bit like Google Analytics - or upload a html site but once you've claimed your site you can remove the outdated pages from Google's cache :)

[goldndelicious]

you can use a small bit of code on your site that can redirect users to your homepage. So any non existant pages will go to your actual site rather than display a 404 page.

with regards to removing pages from search engines i would imagine it can be done. An up to date sitemap would probably be a good start

[chris]

I know I can remove (block) sitelinks but not actual pages that are in the search engine. Anyone know of this facility and how to locate it in google analytics please?
Could you do this in webmaster tools? I saw a bit in there that you can tell it to remove old pages, not sure exactly where now, sorry.

[chris]

I have verified my site. Can you tell me more about this coding or where to look to remove these non existent pages please?
Yep - it's in Google Webmaster Tools - I had to use this a lot when a site of mine was spammed.

You need to add some code to your site to access it - it's a bit like Google Analytics - or upload a html site but once you've claimed your site you can remove the outdated pages from Google's cache :)

[chris]

My sitemap gets crawls quite regularly. The last time was 8th August. New products soon get into Google but it doesn't seem to remove the old pages.
Do you think my sitemap is still showing the old products/pages or would that update automatically when I remove them from the site?

you can use a small bit of code on your site that can redirect users to your homepage. So any non existant pages will go to your actual site rather than display a 404 page.

with regards to removing pages from search engines i would imagine it can be done. An up to date sitemap would probably be a good start

[friendlybaby]

My sitemap gets crawls quite regularly. The last time was 8th August. New products soon get into Google but it doesn't seem to remove the old pages.
Do you think my sitemap is still showing the old products/pages or would that update automatically when I remove them from the site?

I would think you would need to update your sitemap manually (I do with mine anyway). Having your site crawled isn't the same as them checking your sitemap. Do you have a specific page called sitemap?

I redirect old product pages to the most relevant new product and find that quite often people do buy the alternative that I have redirected them to. It is seamless and they don't even see the old page.

[chris]

I redirect old product pages to the most relevant new product and find that quite often people do buy the alternative that I have redirected them to. It is seamless and they don't even see the old page.

Thanks for the info. That sounds like what I am after - if only I knew how to do it!

[BellaMiller]

Hiya in webmaster tools it's "site configuration" then "crawler access"
There's then three tabs, the 3rd on is "remove URL"

Ali
x

[chris]

Thought I had it there but the removal url tool states that the link has to go to a page 404 (or 410) error page. Mine do not.
Mine look like the real page but because they no longer really exists, when people try to click 'buy now' it doesn't go anywhere.
That remove url tool was in the right direction - there must be something similar for pages that you just want to remove (maybe it is to do with the sitemap but I do not know how to amend that).
Thanks for everyone's help.