Re: Why are old URL's showing in web search engines?

> I recently uploaded a new website for a client that had a bad experience
> with a hosting provider who skipped town. My question relates to the "old"
> URL address associated with the previous web pages. I searched for the
"new"
> site and discovered several OLD pages still indexed by search engines? I
> realize that some of these are probably proxies but I'm concerned since I
> really do not understand the why and how of this problem. Can anyone tell
me
> how to correct this or perhaps confirm why it happens.
>
> Thx - Pete Bastone

OK, nobody else bit on this one, here goes......

Removing old pages should be done with great care.

1.  Old linked pages can still bring in traffic
2.  It's easier to keep a well-placed webpage going, than it is to get a new
page
     registered

Conclusion:  Reuse webpages if at all humanly possible.

We all know the algorithms used by the search engines to index websites are
laced with pixie dust and therefore hard to fathom.  New pages may be listed
at 7,432 out of a possible 11,643,987 web pages, if your pages are listed in
the first 100 for their subject, you owe it to your customer to keep them.

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Now if you really want to get rid of that old webpage or its way down the
list, the best way to do it is to add the following meta tag to that
webpage:

  <META NAME="robots" CONTENT="noindex">

The next time the search engines index this page, they are being told to get
rid this page.

If you want to rush them, go to the search engines and register that page so
they will re-index soon.  Some even have a special page for this.

See http://www.laisha.com/search/ for a great write-up on search engine
information.


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| Paul Wilson
| webgooru(at)gte.net
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