Official statement
After a malware attack that creates thousands of pages, using 404 pages or redirecting to the homepage produces similar results. Redirects to the homepage are treated as soft 404s. The key is to focus on the important pages and allow the rest to resolve naturally over 6 months or more.
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Official statement from
(5 years ago)
⚠ A more recent statement exists on this topic
Does your homepage distance really impact how fast Google indexes your pages?
View statement →
TL;DR
Redirecting pages post-malware to the homepage is akin to creating soft 404s. Let's focus on the important pages, and the rest will stabilize in 6 months.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Les redirections soft 404 affectent-elles le classement ?
Oui, elles peuvent avoir un impact négatif subtil sur la visibilité SEO.
Combien de temps faut-il pour que l'indexation se stabilise après un malware ?
Cela peut prendre environ 6 mois ou plus pour une stabilisation naturelle.
Doit-on toujours éviter les redirections vers la homepage ?
Oui, éviter autant que possible pour ne pas créer de soft 404.
Pourquoi les pages infectées ne doivent-elles pas être ignorées ?
Elles peuvent encombrer l'index et affecter le SEO global.
Est-il utile de s'adresser à un expert SEO après une attaque ?
Absolument, pour un nettoyage efficace et une stratégie de récupération adaptée.
🎥 From the same video 14
Other SEO insights extracted from this same Google Search Central video · published on 14/08/2021
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