Old URLs Removal from Google Search Website Rebuild

[NJ_001]

Hello,

We recently completed a comprehensive rebuild of our website, which involved updating our site structure and changing our URLs. As part of this process, we transitioned all references to the new URLs and unpublished the old ones. However, we've encountered a significant issue where Google's search engine continues to list these old URLs. When clicked, these links lead to 404 error pages, negatively affecting our user experience and potentially our SEO rankings.

We have taken the basic steps we believed necessary for such a transition, including updating our site's internal links to the new URLs and ensuring the old pages were unpublished. Despite these efforts, the outdated URLs persist in Google's search results.

Our primary questions and concerns are as follows:

1. Is there a specific process we need to follow to expedite the removal of these old URLs from Google's search index? We wonder if this issue is related to our site's sitemap and whether submitting a new, updated sitemap would help Google recognize and remove the outdated URLs more quickly.

2. Are there additional steps we should take within the HubSpot platform to address this issue? For example, is there a way to directly communicate these changes to search engines through HubSpot, or should we rely on external tools like Google Search Console?

3. What best practices can you recommend to ensure a smoother transition for URL changes in the future? We want to avoid similar issues moving forward and ensure that our website's restructuring efforts enhance our online presence without unintended consequences.

We appreciate any guidance, tools, or resources you can provide to help us resolve this issue. Ensuring that our new website's structure and URLs are correctly indexed by Google and other search engines is a top priority for us, and we believe your expertise can significantly aid us in this endeavor.

Thank you for your support.

Best regards,

Nathanaël 

[NJ_001]

@Josh thanks for the reply! This makes sense. 

[Josh · Accepted solution]

Hi @NJ_001,

I highly recommend creating 301 redirects for all of the old URLs. These redirects would map users and search engines to the new location of the page.

Here's info on 301 redirects. You can accomplish this in HubSpot by following the steps here.

There is a URL removal request in Google Search Console, but if you have the proper 301 redirects in place, this would be an unnecessary step. The 301 redirect will tell Google and other search engines that the move is permanent and they will eventually stop showing the old URLs in search.

Josh