How long for google to de-index old pages on my site?

[rubennunez]

I launched my redesigned website 4 days ago. I submitted a new site map, as well as submitted it to index in search console (google webmasters).

I see that when I google my site, My new open graph settings are coming up correct.

Still, a lot of my old site pages are definitely still indexed within google. How long will it take for google to drop off or "de-index" my old pages?

Due to the way I restructured my website, a lot of the items are no longer available on my site. This is on purpose. I'm a graphic designer, and with the new change, I removed many old portfolio items, as well as any references to web design since I will no longer offering that service.

My site is the following:
http://studio35design.com

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

This can take a very long time sometimes, for bigger sites I could see this take months with smaller sites it depends on the frequency and the crawl rate that Google visits your site. If Google is not very active on your site because the content doesn't really relate to something that is updated often then Google might decide not to come back too often to save their own servers and find other content elsewhere on the web.

In your case I would focus on making sure that the new site and structure are working flawless and less about de-indexing the old pages. I can't imagine that they still receive a ton of traffic. Without any doubt is 4 days still very early for Google to pick up the changes.

Hope this helps!?

[Mark.]

Hi,

Yes this really depends on how frequently Google crawls your site. Do these pages now lead to a 404 error? If yes I would suggest 301 redirecting them to other pages on your site. See this useful Moz blog about 301 redirects: https://moz.com/blog/heres-how-to-keep-301-redirects-from-ruining-your-seo

You also mentioned that you don’t offer the web design service anymore. If you still gets some traffic there you could make a specific page. Here you can state that you don’t offer web design but maybe some other relevant services.

[rubennunez]

Hi Mark. Thanks for your response. All links as far as I can tell now have 301s. I'm sure there might be the odd page out that I forgot, but I'll be monitoring search console for errors.

Your suggestion about the specific page to redirect web design traffic is a good one. I'll think about it.

[rubennunez]

Hi Martijn. Thanks for your response. My primary concern are the links that appear below my main link in the SERP. See screenshot. Half out those are no longer working. Sure, they redirect to a 301, but its still messy.

Screen%20Shot%202016-06-06%20at%201.41.12%20PM.png

[BasKierkels]

Hi Ruben,

Have you tried deleting these old pages from the index at Google Webmaster Tools?

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/url-removal

You can only delete them temporarily but it might overlap the process of actually deleting the pages that you have already set in motion by uploading a new site map.

I did that about a week ago and the effect was noticeable within a couple of days.

Bas

[rubennunez]

Awesome! Thanks Bas. Thats a great idea. I'll give it a shot.