GWT giving me 404 errors based on old and deleted site map
-
I'm getting a bunch of 404 crawl errors in my Google Webmaster Tools because we just moved our site to a new platform with new URL structure. We 301 redirected all the relevant pages. We submitted a new site map and then deleted all the site maps to the old website url structure.
However, google keeps crawling the OLD urls and reporting back the 404 errors. It says that the website is linking to these 404 pages via an old outdated sitemap (which if you goto shows a 404 as well, so it's not as if Google is reading these old site maps now). Instead it's as if Google has cached the old sitemap but continues to use it to crawl these non-existent pages.
Any thoughts?
-
How long has it been since you deleted the old sitemap and provide the new one ?
I think your Google account may just need some extra time to update correctly. it seems to me that Google updates in my WMT account seems to have a little lag time. I think it will update correctly after a few weeks to a month. I don't think you have any actual problem as much as Google is not actually finding and updating new info correctly.
I would wait and see what happens after a short while.
Joe
-
As long as it's 301'ing the important ones then that's ok. The 404's will regularly pop up in this scenario as long as it crawls something that it encounters a page with the link or from the index and follows it to a 404. Just mark them as fixed.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
500 - server error
Hi All, A site crawl reveals several server errors (status code 500) about a clients wordpress website. My question: what are the most common causes for server errors and what advice can I give about how to fix them? Thanks in advance,
Technical SEO | | WeAreDigital_BE
Jens0 -
60,000 404 errors
Do 404 errors on a large scale really matter? I'm just aware that I now have over 60,000 and was wondering if the community think that I should address them by putting 301 redirects in place. Thanks
Technical SEO | | the-gate-films0 -
Redirect for Soft 404 or 404?
I have a client site that displays properties from the MLS. Once these properties sell they're removed from the MLS and they stop showing up on her site. This would result in a 404 error, but right now any property that's not being found is being 301 redirected back to the property page. I see how this makes sense for a user, but Google is saying there's an increase in Soft 404 errors and I've read that this could negatively affect organic traffic. Should I keep the redirect for removed properties or should I have it serve a 404 with a message that the house you're looking for may have sold and link to the property page? Is it better to have Soft 404 errors or 404 errors?
Technical SEO | | JaredDetroit0 -
What if an old site goes into PENDINGDELETE status
Hi, I have an old domain which accidentally was set as PENDINGDELETE by the registry. It's now not resolving to any ip address any more. Actually I was relocating from the old domain to a new domain. Just one month before it become PENDINGDELETE, I have submitted a "Chang of Address" in Google Webmasters Tools as well as setup the web server to 301 redirect all urls on old domain to the new domain. I have some sub-questions for this case: 1. What will happen to the effectiveness of the "Change of Address" in Google Webmasters Tool after old domain is dropped. As a domain is deleted, I have no way to maintain the verified ownership of the it in case Google asks me to reverify. 2. Suppose during last month before it's deleted, Googlebot had crawled 50% of urls on old domains, detected the 301 redirects and save them to its index. When Googlebot crawls those 50% urls again after the old domain is deleted, as those urls are not resolving to any web server, will Googlebot retain the last 301 redirects or drop the 301 redirects as well? 3. After a domain is deleted, how soon will Google purge urls on old domain from its index? Thank you. Best regards Jack Zhao
Technical SEO | | Bull1350 -
What is wrong with my site?
I have been working hard for over two months on my sites in seomoz and have seen some nice results in some (www.etraxc.com/ and www-my-etraxc.com for instance. Still I am really frustrated by www.classroomconnection.us/. I cant even get on the first page with the search term "classroom connection." i would love some help on this one. On a related note, does it help to have links to YouTube videos about the content? If so, how do I ensure that this piece is working well for me? Thanks a ton!
Technical SEO | | bobbabuoy0 -
Want to Target Mobile site for Google Mobile Version and Desktop Site for Google Desktop Version
I have ecommerce site with both mobile version and desktop version. Mobile version starts with m.example.com and full version starts with www.example.com I am using same content through out both site and using 301 redirection by detecting user agent vice-versa. My both sites are accessible to crawl by any google spider. I have submitted both sites's sitemap to GWT and mobile site having mobile sitemap xml, so google can easily recognize my mobile site. Is it going to help to rank my both sites as per my expectation? I need to rank for mobile site in Google mobile and ranking for desktop site in Google desktop version. Some of pages of my mobile site are started to appearing in Google desktop version. So how I can stop them to appear in Google desktop? Your comments are highly welcome.
Technical SEO | | Hexpress0 -
New project old domain should I 301 redirect while new sites built
I just took on a larger scale e-commerce project and came across a tricky road block that I need some advise on. Ok I'm building the site from scratch and due to it's complexity it may take 3-4 months before I have it designed and coded. The client has a domain name that has some decent page/domain authority and I would hate to loose that while the sites being built. Currently I have nothing to display as his previous site got hacked and it was deleted by the previous web admin. Being that a blog has already been approved as part of the project I already installed wordpress to keep the domain fresh however here's the issue, I installed wordpress in a folder called blog and debating if I should 301 redirect or 302 redirect his index here? The blog will always reside in the blog folder even after launch. Will performing a 301 redirect pull all the juice away from my index page? I'm assuming yes. IF so what would occur once the project is complete and I make the ecommerce site live in the index page? Thanks in Advance! Mike
Technical SEO | | MikeDelaCruz770 -
Site Disappeared off of Search
A friend of mine has a site (http://bit.ly/q4iWkM ) that was ranking number one for their key word (Drimnagh() and has now completely disappeared off of the ranking. I did some checking and can't see a problem. She does have duplicate meta and titles throughout but this shouldn't be a punishable offence that I know of and is something that I am going to correct with a quick plugin install. I couldn't see any redirects or code stopping search either. When you do site:URL it shows up OK as well. She is client of mine (for website not for SEO) and she is really upset about it so any help from the forum would be appreciated. This isn't even a site I did but you couldn't get a better person to work with so I am eager to help where and if possible. Guinness all round if someone solves it next time you are in Ireland
Technical SEO | | kdaly1000