How long after a URL starts showing a 404 does Google stop crawling?
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Before hiring me to do SEO, a client re-launched their site and did not 301 the old URLs to the new. Only the home page URL stayed the same.
For a month after the re-launch, the old URLs returned a 404. For the next month, all 404 pages (basically any non-existent URL) were 301'd to the home page. Finally, 2 months after launching, they properly 301'd the old URLs to the new.
Now, the new URLs are not ranking well. I assume it's too late to realize any benefit from the 301's, just checking to see if anybody has any insight into how long Google keeps trying to crawl old/404/improperly 301'd URLs.
Thanks!
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Thanks for the responses. I tend to agree, but my concern is the "permanent" nature of a 301. I assume they will re-crawl the old URLs and replace the previous redirects with the new ones eventually.
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Agree. Google will follow the links. Keep checking webmaster tools and 301 the pages Google can't find. I can't see why you would not get the link value.
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Google's crawlers follow links. As long as links exist, those links will be crawled, even if the link generates a 404 error. They could choose to follow known 404 links less frequently, but they will still make attempts to follow the link.
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