The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Forum
    2. Categories
    3. SEO Tactics
    4. On-Page Optimization
    5. How to properly remove pages and a category from Google's index

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    How to properly remove pages and a category from Google's index

    On-Page Optimization
    5 4 1.2k
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • VinceWicks
      VinceWicks last edited by

      I want to remove this category http://www.webdesign.org/web-design-news-all/ and all the pages in that category (e.g. http://www.webdesign.org/web-design-news-all/7386.html ) from Google's index.

      I used the following string in the "Reomval URS" section in Google Webmaster Tools:

      http://www.webdesign.org/web-design-news-all/*

      is that correct or I better use http://www.webdesign.org/web-design-news-all/ ?

      Thanks in advance.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • VinceWicks
        VinceWicks last edited by

        Thanks for your replies guys. Now I know how to proceed. 🙂

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • benjaminspak
          benjaminspak @William.Lau last edited by

          In addition I would put the "No Index" meta attribute in the pages.

          http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=93710

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • William.Lau
            William.Lau last edited by

            It sounds like you want to de-index them.

            Go into your robots.txt and disallow Google from the category..

            It will look something like this:

            User-agent: googlebot or *

            Disallow: /web-design-news-all/

            benjaminspak 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • Highland
              Highland last edited by

              Are you removing the pages or just trying to de-index them? If you're trying to remove them, make sure the old pages return a 404 so they can't be restored to the index. If you're trying to remove them, make sure they are excluded by robots.txt or meta tag.

              Here's the WMT Help page on the topic

              http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1663427

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • 1 / 1
              • First post
                Last post

              Got a burning SEO question?

              Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


              Start my free trial


              Explore more categories

              • Moz Tools

                Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                Getting Started
                Moz Pro
                Moz Local
                Moz Bar
                API
                What's New

              • SEO Tactics

                Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                Content Development
                Competitive Research
                Keyword Research
                Link Building
                On-Page Optimization
                Technical SEO
                Reporting & Analytics
                Intermediate & Advanced SEO
                Image & Video Optimization
                International SEO
                Local SEO

              • Community

                Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                Moz Blog
                Moz News
                Industry News
                Jobs and Opportunities
                SEO Learn Center
                Whiteboard Friday

              • Digital Marketing

                Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                Affiliate Marketing
                Branding
                Conversion Rate Optimization
                Web Design
                Paid Search Marketing
                Social Media

              • Research & Trends

                Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                SERP Trends
                Search Behavior
                Algorithm Updates
                White Hat / Black Hat SEO
                Other SEO Tools

              • Support

                Connect on product support and feature requests.

                Product Support
                Feature Requests
                Participate in User Research

              • See all categories

              Get started with Moz Pro!

              Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

              Start my free trial
              Products
              • Moz Pro
              • Moz Local
              • Moz API
              • Moz Data
              • STAT
              • Product Updates
              Moz Solutions
              • SMB Solutions
              • Agency Solutions
              • Enterprise Solutions
              • Digital Marketers
              Free SEO Tools
              • Domain Authority Checker
              • Link Explorer
              • Keyword Explorer
              • Competitive Research
              • Brand Authority Checker
              • Local Citation Checker
              • MozBar Extension
              • MozCast
              Resources
              • Blog
              • SEO Learning Center
              • Help Hub
              • Beginner's Guide to SEO
              • How-to Guides
              • Moz Academy
              • API Docs
              About Moz
              • About
              • Team
              • Careers
              • Contact
              Why Moz
              • Case Studies
              • Testimonials
              Get Involved
              • Become an Affiliate
              • MozCon
              • Webinars
              • Practical Marketer Series
              • MozPod
              Connect with us

              Contact the Help team

              Join our newsletter
              Moz logo
              © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
              • Accessibility
              • Terms of Use
              • Privacy

              Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.