Deleted products still showing on google

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Hi all.
I deleted some listings from my wix ecommerce website a couple of weeks ago. The items are still appearing in google searches and clicking on it leads to a dead url. I cannot understand where these listings are hiding! Does any one have any ideas where to find the answer to my mystery. Wix call back didn’t know!

Product:
Wix Editor

2

Google does not check your site instantly, it has bots that traverse websites every once in a while and update their indexing, it won’t just automatically know what pages you suddenly removed. It should update in a few days, there may be a way of re-indexing on demand on the Google console but I’m not sure

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When listings that have been deleted from your Wix eCommerce website still appear in Google searches, it’s likely due to Google’s cache of your old URLs. These dead links can remain in search results for a while even after the content is deleted.

Here’s how you can resolve this issue:

1. Ensure Listings Are Fully Deleted on Wix

  • Confirm that the products are completely removed from your Products section in the Wix Editor and are not stored in any drafts or hidden collections.

2. Set Up 301 Redirects

  • For each deleted product, set up a 301 redirect that points the old URL to a relevant page (e.g., your home page or another product). This will ensure that visitors who land on the old link are not met with a 404 error.
    • To do this: Go to SEO Tools > URL Redirect Manager in your Wix dashboard, and add the old URLs along with the new ones to redirect.

3. Submit URL Removal Requests to Google

  • Use Google Search Console to remove the dead URLs from Google’s index:
    • Log in to Google Search Console.
    • Navigate to Removals > New Request.
    • Enter the old URLs that are still showing up in search results, and request removal.

4. Fetch as Google

  • In Google Search Console, go to URL Inspection, input the new URLs that replaced the deleted listings (if applicable), and request “Fetch as Google” to recrawl and update Google’s index faster.

5. Check for Hidden or Unlinked Pages

  • Ensure that the listings are not somehow present as hidden or unlinked pages in your Wix site. Check the Page Manager to verify if there are any orphan pages or draft versions of the deleted listings.

6. Wait for Google to Refresh Its Cache

  • After performing the steps above, it may take some time for Google to refresh its search cache and remove the old listings from its index.

7. Consult an Expert

If the issue persists or if you’re looking for a more hands-on solution, you can reach an expert for consultation or help. Wix experts or SEO professionals can assist in handling these issues more efficiently.

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Thank you. Do you know if I temporarily remove the links, if by the time the 6 months runs out google is likely to have cleared those so i won’t need to remove them again?

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Take note that large enterprises do not delete old or sold out products. They add a message saying it is no longer available and add suggested products.

They do this because of indexing. It’s bad for the website SEO so in turn it is bad for business.

The best approach is to to what the enterprises do, but doing a 301 redirect is ok as well. It is better than any other approach.

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That’s a really good point and idea thank you