Failing to remove old content from the Google cache can be really annoying.
In fact, it may happen that with the passage of time the contents become obsolete, that the images are no longer in line with your brand, etc …
However, what can happen is that the information displayed on the SERP is not updated.
Therefore, URLs that no longer exist, or images that have now been removed from your site but still present in the Google cache may appear.
Fortunately, there is a tool that comes to our aid.
Attention! This guide refers to the removal of content that you own, which you are able to edit / delete from your site.
It therefore does not concern content that must be removed for copyright infringement , that is not appropriate, etc.
For content of this type, there is a specific tool called Removal of content from Google , within the “Legal in-depth guide”.
WE USE THE OFFICIAL TOOL:
How to remove old content from Google cache with the official tool
So, if you want to remove old pages or resources from your search results that once made sense to exist on your website, but no longer, the first step is obviously to remove the content from your site.
In fact, Google will only remove old content from the index when, having visited your site, it will actually no longer find it (or will see that it has been modified and the index must therefore be updated).
Once you have removed or changed your content, access the tool for removing content .
By clicking on New request , you can choose whether it is a web page or an image.
By selecting Page , you will need to paste the URL for the content you wish to remove and send the request.
If it is an image, you will need to enter the URL of the image and the URL of the page in which it is contained, or enter the URL Copy Link Address from the image search results.
Here’s how to do it:
- Search for the image on Google Images using Google Chrome;
- Once you have identified the image you want to remove, right-click on it;
- Select the item Copy link address ;
- Paste the URL into Google’s removal tool.
First, Google will check if the content has actually been removed.
Then, it will proceed to process the request. Initially, the status of the request will be “ Pending “. The URL is then typically removed within 24-48 hours.
Of course, make sure you only submit this request for URLs that you are absolutely sure you want to remove from the index!
Conclusion
Using this tool, removing old content from the Google cache is not too difficult.
