Did you know that Google not only crawls your pages, but also takes snapshots of your content and stores them in the Google cache?
Normally, Google crawlers go through your content and categorize this information for search results queries. They also store this content in their database as a backup in case your website goes down or fails to load.
What if your private content is also cached by Google and continues to show up in search results? If this happens, your protected content will be accessible to users without protection methods.
To give you a comprehensive answer, we’ll take a closer look at the Google cache, show you how to view the pages cached by Google, and then introduce you to ways you can remove private content from the Google cache too.
What is the Google cache?
Google Cache refers to all copies of web pages that are cached by Google. Google bots crawl the web, save the content of each web page and then store it in their cache. This serves as a backup in case the existing website is unavailable.
The pages stored in Google’s cache are handy as you can rely on deleted content being restored. You can also access your pages via the Google cache if your website suddenly becomes unavailable or fails to load for any reason.
How often does Google cache your pages? Every few days. This also depends on how often you update your website.
How can you view your pages cached by Google?
There are two ways to view Google’s cached pages. The easiest way to access a cached page is to search for the website via Google search results and then select the three vertical dots next to your website’s URL. A small screen will open where you select the “Cached” option.
You will then be redirected to another screen showing the cached version of your site.
At the top of the page you will see a banner with some information, including;
- The URL of the cached page.
- The time your page was cached by Google. The image above shows “14 Feb 2022 16:03:08 GMT”
- Versions: You can choose between 3 versions, either full version, text-only version or show source.
In the text-only version, you can only see text and hyperlinks, no images, as CSS is switched off.
If you select the “Show source” code” option, the source code of your page will be displayed.
Note: There is no button when you browse your website on mobile. In this case, you must search for the URL of the website directly. Simply enter the format “cache:domain.com” in the search bar, for example cache:passwordprotectwp.com.
Alternatively, you can use tools to view Google cached pages such as the Way Back Machine or Google Cache Checker. For Chrome users, you also can install the Web Cache Viewer extension to view any pages of the Google Cache version.
How to remove your private content from Google
Imagine you’re browsing Google and discover some of your pages in the search results that you’d rather keep private. This could be outdated and duplicate content or pages or posts that contain sensitive or confidential data.
What should you do? The best thing to do is remove your private content from the Google cache. Here’s how.
Remove your cached pages with Google Search Console
Make sure that you have already checked the authentication of your website with Google Search Console. Then carry out the following steps.
- Sign in to your Google Search Console account.
- In the “Index” menu, select ” Removal” > “Temporary removals”.
- Click on New request. In the “Temporarily remove URL” field, enter the URL of the page you want to remove from the Google cache and search results.
- Select the option “Remove this URL only” and submit your request. Google will process your request within one or two days.
Note: The “Temporary removal” option means that the URL of your page will not appear in Google search results for 6 months. It will be re-indexed and cached when you make it live again.
If you want to clear the cache while the page remains untouched, select the “Clear cache URL” tab. Remember that the page will be saved in the cache as soon as Google calls up your page again.
Also, the “Remove all URLs with this prefix” you can delete an entire folder or directory of your website from the search results.
Block caching with noindex and noarchive tags
Another way to prevent the caching of pages is to use the noindex and noarchive tags. Adding a noindex meta tag to the HTML code of your page tells Google that this page cannot be indexed. The noarchive tag, on the other hand, prevents the page from being added to the cache.
These tags are therefore practical if you want to keep the pages permanently without them being placed in the cache.
Note: Before applying the noindex tag, you should carefully decide what type of content you are changing, whether it is private or duplicated. If it is private content, you may consider deleting it or keeping it safe on your website by password protecting it.
In this case, you should set up a 301 redirect so that your visitors are redirected to a relevant page and do not end up on a 404 page.
Keep your private content completely hidden with PPWP Pro
If you want to make sure sensitive content doesn’t and up in the Google cache then you could consider using an advanced plugin to protect it, like PPWP Pro.
The PPWP plugin gives the green light to protect pages, posts, content sharing and the entire website. In addition, it allows you to protect custom post types such as WooCommerce product pages, store pages or online courses with just a few clicks.
What’s more, the plugin not only reliably protects your content, but also actively blocks it from being indexed by Google search to completely hide it from prying eyes.
It automatically inserts a noindex and follow meta tag in the header of protected pages. At this point, none of your sensitive data will be displayed in search results or in the Google cache.
Keep in mind that if you have the entire WordPress website password protected with PPWP Pro, all of your content will disappear from search engines, regardless of whether it is individually protected or not.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve gone through what Google Cache is and how you can view the pages cached by Google. We have also explained how you can remove private content from the Google cache. You can use removal tools, such as the Google Search Console or apply the noindex or noarchive tag manually to your HTML pages. Or, you can use a plugin like PPWP to automatically block Google search indexing of your protected content.
