How to Find an Outdated URL

Outdated URLs may still appear in search engines databases.

Search engine “web crawlers” are constantly searching the Internet for URLs (website addresses) to add to the search engine database. Because the web crawler is an automated system and not a live person, it does not verify which URLs are correct and which ones are outdated. When the web crawler adds an outdated URL to the search engine database, that URL will still appear in search engine results even though it is outdated. If an Internet user clicks on the outdated URL in the search engine results, he will receive a “404 Page Not Found” error message. If you suspect your outdated URL is still showing up in search engine results, you may need to locate it and remove it.

Instructions

1. Access a broken link checker tool such as those provided by Google Webmaster Tools, Submit Xpress, Creating Online, Add Me, and Website Goodies.

2. Enter the domain name associated with the URL. For example, “http://www.yoursite.com.”

3. Click the “Search” or “Check Links” button.

4. View the broken link results. If a URL associated with the domain name is broken, there will be an error beside the URL. All URLs that are not outdated will be marked accordingly.

Tips & Warnings

• You can remove outdated URLs from the Google search engine results by using Google Webmaster Tools.

References

• Six Revisions: How To Find & Remove Broken Links In Your Website
• 404 Error Pages: Welcome to 404 Error Pages

Resources

• Submit Xpress
• Creating Online
• Add Me
• Website Goodies
• Google