Why Google May Continue Crawling Hacked Pages Long After They’re Removed

Website security is a critical aspect of online operations, and unfortunately, even well-maintained websites can fall victim to hacking attempts. Once a site is compromised, hackers may inject malicious content, create spam pages, or manipulate the website in other ways that harm its performance, reputation, and rankings. After a hack is identified and resolved, one might expect that the issue is behind them. However, many website owners are surprised to find that Google continues to crawl those hacked pages long after they have been removed from the server.

In this article, we’ll explore why Google may keep crawling hacked pages after they’ve been removed, what impact this can have on your SEO, and how you can ensure that the pages are permanently removed from Google’s index.

Why Google Continues to Crawl Hacked Pages

Googlebot, the search engine’s crawler, continues to revisit URLs that have been previously indexed, even after they’ve been removed from your site. This is because search engines want to ensure they have the most up-to-date version of your website. However, several factors contribute to Google’s persistent crawling of hacked pages:

1. Hacked Pages May Be Linked Internally or Externally

One of the most common reasons why Google continues to crawl hacked pages is due to internal or external links that point to these URLs. Even after the pages have been removed from your website, if there are internal links (such as in your navigation menu, sitemaps, or other pages) that direct to those hacked pages, Google will continue trying to crawl them.

Similarly, external links from other websites pointing to the hacked pages can signal to Google that these URLs are still relevant, causing the crawler to revisit them regularly.

  • Example: If a hacked page was previously linked in your website’s footer or in a blog post, Google will attempt to crawl that URL repeatedly until the link is removed or updated.

2. Cached Versions of the Pages May Still Exist

Even after hacked pages are removed from your site, Google may have cached versions of these pages stored in its index. These cached versions allow Google to serve content to users more quickly. However, when the cached version of a hacked page remains in Google’s index, it signals to the crawler that the page might still exist, leading to repeated crawl attempts.

  • Example: A user might search for your website and see a hacked page in the search results, even though it has been removed. This happens because Google is serving the cached version of the page.

3. Residual Links or Spam Pages

In some cases, hacked pages may not be completely removed from your server. Residual links, directories, or spam pages that were created during the hack could still exist, even if the main hacked pages have been deleted. These remnants can continue to attract Googlebot’s attention, leading to ongoing crawl attempts.

  • Example: A hacker might have injected hundreds of spam pages into your website, and although you’ve removed the main hacked pages, some residual spam content remains hidden in your server’s directories.

4. Googlebot’s Crawl Patterns

Googlebot doesn’t immediately stop crawling a page after it receives a 404 error (indicating the page no longer exists). Instead, it will try to revisit the page multiple times to confirm whether it has been restored or permanently removed. Over time, Googlebot will reduce the frequency of its visits to the hacked page, but it may take weeks or even months for Google to completely stop crawling the URL.

This persistent crawling is designed to ensure that Google’s index remains accurate and up to date, but it can be frustrating for website owners trying to recover from a hack.

How Persistent Crawling of Hacked Pages Impacts SEO

The ongoing crawling of hacked pages by Google can have several negative effects on your SEO performance:

  • Indexation of Outdated Content: If Google continues to crawl and index hacked pages, there’s a risk that these pages will appear in search results, potentially damaging your brand’s reputation and user experience.
  • Crawl Budget Waste: Google allocates a specific crawl budget to each website, which determines how many pages Googlebot will crawl during a given period. If Google is wasting its crawl budget on non-existent hacked pages, it could prevent the bot from crawling and indexing your legitimate pages, negatively affecting your site’s visibility in search results.
  • Loss of Trust and Traffic: Users who encounter hacked pages in search results may lose trust in your website and choose not to visit it, resulting in decreased traffic and potentially lower rankings due to poor user engagement metrics.

Steps to Ensure Hacked Pages Are Permanently Removed from Google’s Index

To prevent Google from continuing to crawl hacked pages, there are several steps you can take to ensure that these pages are permanently removed from Google’s index:

1. Submit URL Removal Requests in Google Search Console

Google Search Console offers a URL removal tool that allows you to temporarily remove specific URLs from Google’s index. This is a helpful first step in preventing hacked pages from showing up in search results.

  • How to Do It: Go to Google Search Console, navigate to the “Removals” section, and submit the hacked URLs for temporary removal. This will prevent the URLs from appearing in search results for about six months.

However, this is only a temporary solution, so you’ll need to take additional steps to ensure the pages are permanently removed.

2. Use the “Fetch as Google” Tool

After removing the hacked pages from your server, use the “Fetch as Google” tool in Search Console to request a recrawl of your site. By doing this, you can signal to Google that the pages have been removed and that the bot should update its index accordingly.

  • How to Do It: In Google Search Console, go to “URL Inspection,” enter the URL of the hacked page, and click “Request Indexing.” This tells Google to recrawl the URL and update its index.

It’s important to thoroughly scan your website for any residual content or links that may still be pointing to the hacked pages. This includes checking your internal links, sitemap, footer, and any scripts or plugins that may have been compromised during the hack.

  • Tools to Use: Tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs can help you audit your site and identify broken links or hidden pages that may have been missed during the cleanup process.

Removing all traces of the hacked pages will reduce the chances of Google continuing to crawl them.

4. Request a Recrawl of Your Entire Site

If you suspect that hacked pages have been widely distributed across your site, you can request a recrawl of your entire website in Google Search Console. This ensures that Googlebot revisits all pages on your site and updates its index with the latest version of your content.

  • How to Do It: In Google Search Console, go to “Settings” and select “Request Crawl.” This will prompt Google to recrawl your entire site, helping to remove outdated or hacked pages from its index.

5. Implement 410 Status Codes for Permanently Removed Pages

If a hacked page has been permanently removed from your server and you don’t intend to replace it, you should use a 410 status code (Gone) instead of a 404 status code (Not Found). A 410 status code tells search engines that the page has been permanently removed and that it should be removed from the index more quickly than a 404 status code.

  • How to Do It: Configure your server to return a 410 status code for the hacked pages that you have permanently removed. This signals to Google that the pages no longer exist and will not return in the future.

Conclusion

Google’s continued crawling of hacked pages after they’ve been removed can be frustrating, but understanding why it happens and how to address it is key to resolving the issue. By using Google Search Console tools, thoroughly cleaning up your site, and ensuring that Google receives the correct signals (such as 410 status codes), you can stop Googlebot from crawling non-existent hacked pages and restore your website’s SEO performance.

For businesses dealing with the aftermath of a hack, Web Zodiac’s SEO Services can help restore your website’s health and visibility. Our team specializes in white-label SEO services and enterprise SEO services, ensuring that your site is fully optimized, secure, and free from harmful issues caused by previous attacks.

Written by Rahil Joshi

Rahil Joshi is a seasoned digital marketing expert with over a decade of experience, excels in driving innovative online strategies.

October 21, 2024

SEO

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