How To Remove A URL From Google
How To Remove A Single URL (step by step)
Firstly, the website owner must indicate that it’s fine to remove the URL in question by:
- block the page from crawling via a robots.txt file
- block the page from indexing via a noindex meta tag
- indicate that the page no longer exists by returning a 404 or 410 status code
Once URL is blocked using any of the above technique you can remove it by going to http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals, entering the URL that you want to remove and selecting the “Webmaster has already blocked the page” option.
Although your URL will not disappear from Google index instantly, it will take Google only few hours to remove it and display a notification in Webmaster Tools removal section.
How To Remove An Entire Website Directory Or Site
This is a fairly similar process. This time however, the directory or site must be disallowed (blocked) using the site’s robots.txt file.
You have to be a verified Webmaster Tools user to request the removal. Gogle has made it easier recently when they introduced functionality to add extra users in Webmaster Tools (read more on How to add a user to Webmaster Tools account).
To request removal of a directory or site, follow these steps in Webmaster Tools: Site configuration > Crawler access > Remove URL; click “New removal request;” and select the “directory” or “entire site” option.
How To Reinclude URL In Google
Providing you’re a verified owner of the site (verified in Google Webmaster Tools), you can cancel removal requests by going to Site configuration > Crawler access > Remove URL > Removed URLs (or > Made by others) and clicking “Cancel” next to any requests.
