jfranktoo

Please help if you can. My Google sitemap is only recently showing two pages with a 404 not found error code. The pages exist with slightly different codes and Google does index them.

Looking at the urls, I see they are wrong.

Don't quite know how I got these error codes, maybe sometime in the past I uploaded the wrong urls.

Two questions.
1) Does the 404 pages not found error code matter if Google are indexing the pages properly and do wrong urls correct themselves in the end, i.e. by Google learning to ignore them?

2) Isn't there something I should do if I eliminate a page or change the url, if you could you tell a non expert in baby talk what to do please?

I'd be really grateful. Don't what I'd do without this forum. I've actually, for once, tried to get Googles webmaster tools to help but I'm back in mumbo jumbo land.

John

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Chart Music

I have this quite a bit, being involved with a forum where urls are posted.

1) Google continues to list(or re-list it) it while it linked from elsewhere.

2) If the URL page gives a 404 or 410 not found, tell Google to remove it in the webmaster tools(tools -> Remove URL). It won't remove it unless it's returning those codes. It will most likely add it back if it's linked from elsewhere. For example another site has a malformed URL at your site, Google will delete but later will add again. Still if it's giving a 404 which it sounds like in this case, then this could do the trick.

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webcosmo

on Google webmaster tools https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools resubmit the sitemap. It will reindex on next crawl. Since Google already got a 404 you can't change it anyways but wait for next crawl.

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OldWelshGuy

add the 404 error page to the HTACCESS as a 301 redirect. Hey, if someone is linking to you it is a shame not to use the link juice

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jfranktoo

Thank guys, all done. Quite simple when you know how. As usual OWG adds an extra twist.
Its a very active brain that does it.

John

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jfranktoo

Old Welsh, it occurs to me that if I ever wanted to change a site url, what I should do is to re-direct by 301 those pages which have inbound links then I don't have to lose them all.

Also when you answered a question about promoting blogs, you mentioned something about putting in links to other blog sites in the sidebar. Can I ask why this is good? I'm not doubting it at all, I'm just interested in what happens at the other end - Lady G end.

John

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OldWelshGuy

yep ALWAYS 301 dead pages to the most relevant page that exists on the new site.

You link OUT to other on topic blogs to help theme the site. Google filed a patent (end last year or beginning of this, can't remember when exactly), that was SPECIFICALLY about blogs and handling them algorithmically. I could send you a USPO link if you really want

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jfranktoo

Yes, please OW- I'll give it a go.

John

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