accidentally removed pages we wanted in Google with no-index

[gomer]

We had a pages in the index that we wanted in the index. However, we accidentally added no-index. As expected, they are now mostly gone from Google and other search engines.

The solution to this should be as simple as removing the no-index and just allowing some time for the pages to get re-indexed.

This is the way we are planning on going unless we hear something that steers us away from that. For example, once Google marks a page as no-index,no-follow, it's not just a matter of removing that from the page as Google has now marked it as no-index and it takes a long time. I don't think this is the case but would like to be certain as another option is to recreate the same page on an entirely new url structure (now that the old pages are gone).

I'd appreciate any thoughts or experience on this.

Thanks.

[JD_Toims]

1.) Noindex is only noindex not noindex,nofollow, so unless you specifically put nofollow, then nofollow didn't happen.

2.) Simply remove the noindex and they'll be back, usually where they were prior to the noindex being put in place in a relatively short period of time after they're respidered.

3.) If you would like to try to speed up the process, maybe try submitting them through WMT to get them spidered again sooner.

[Planet13]

Agreed with JD_Tomis.

I accidentally no indexed my home page once. When I changed it, it took a couple of weeks to get back into the index.

[gomer]

Thanks JD, Planet. We went that route today and removed no-index (and no-follow which was also there) - hopefully we'll get back in the index soon.

[JD_Toims]

Nofollow makes a difference -- Find a way to get any key/top-level pages spidered as soon as you can. Until they're not spidered they still won't "pass weight" and that can throw signals way out-of-line with normal for longer than simply noindex does.

EG If your home pages and pages 2 clicks in get spidered before some second level pages do, nothing "passes" from the home page of the site to the lower level pages and that can throw hierarchy of pages for a total loop.

---

Added:

The difference is with noindex only you basically remove your site from where it is in the index, then when you remove the noindex from it, it just "slides back it" to the index:

Before:
1.) Some Page
2.) Your Page
3.) Another page

During Noindex:
1.) Some Page
2.)
3.) Another Page
[Everything below Your Page slides up for SERPs display]

After Noindex:
1.) Some Page
2.) Your Page
3.) Another page

---

With nofollow, not only does the preceding happen, until all the pages are spidered you have "oddities" in hierarchy, because with nofollow [with or without noindex] you basically turn every page it's on into a stand-alone dead-end with no links to any other pages internally or externally, so until everything is respidered the site can range from disjointed and oddly structured to every page on the site being a completely stand-alone dead-end page for ranking purposes.

[gomer]

Okay, I should have explained this more fully.

Homepage and most pages on the site are okay and were never de-indexed. It is one type of page on our site that serves up geo-location content that was removed. The geo pages are linked from the homepage and some second level pages and should be fine once we've removed no-index, no-follow. For example: we won't be creating stand-alone dead-end pages in any fashion. There was only one type of page that was accidentally de-indexed (and also had no-follow) but all other site pages still had links pointing to them and were not de-indexed.

[JD_Toims]

For example: we won't be creating stand-alone dead-end pages in any fashion.

Cool, that's a good thing.