Google doesn't update cache?

Can this have negative consequences for my google ranking?

[mjansen]

Hi,

One of my sites is nr1 in the search results of google at a very competitive keyword with more then 1 million results.

The problem is that google doesn't update the cache of my site. That's what I think because there doesn't stay a date of the latest cache update below the site in google.

I think this is because my site isn't updated for a long time.

Now is my question, why don't google update my cache and can this have negative consequences for my ranking in google?

And, I also link with javascript to 2 other sites that are banned in google now. Shall I remove them now or not?

The problem is that I'm a little bit afraid that when I change something at the site that it could have negative consequences for my google ranking...

Thanks!

Mjansen

[WebGuerrilla]

There isn't any reason for Google to update the cache if the page hasn't been updated. Have you tried making some changes to the page?

If you do, you'll probably find that the cache will get updated.

[WebFusion]

I don;t know about that. I have a PR6 site that has been online since 1999, get's updated with 4-5 new pages daily, and hasn;t gotten a fresh date in over 2 years (it gets re-indexed/cached about every 2-3 weeks).

It's been in the top 10 of a highly competitive area (12mil+ results) for about 3 years now.

[internetheaven]

and hasn;t gotten a fresh date in over 2 years (it gets re-indexed/cached about every 2-3 weeks).

I assume you mean the date next to the result? These don't show for a variety of reasons one being a dynamic page. Server headers have a lot to play in this aswell, it doesn't really "mean" anything.

The problem is that I'm a little bit afraid that when I change something at the site that it could have negative consequences for my google ranking...

Just to worry you a little more - what if Google gets annoyed because you DON'T change something .... ;)

[mjansen]

Internetheaven,

Yes, that's right. Maybe Google gets annoyed because I DON'T change something....

That's why I'm thinking about what to do. I think I don't change anything, it's good now ;)

[WebGuerrilla]

Google checks for a last modified header [webmasterworld.com]. Most servers (especially if they are serving dynamic content) aren't properly configured, so they will always serve a date that makes G think the page has been updated when in fact it has not. Those types of pages will get recrawled and refreshed regularly.

However, if you haven't made changes to the page and your server is accurately reporting the last date the page was modified, Google shouldn't re-index it, which would mean that the cache wouldn't update.

[g1smd]

I changed a page in mid-August, and hoped to see it reflected in Google SERPs within a few days.

It didn't happen. I then looked at the Google cache and was surprised to see the cache date as sometime back in March this year!

I added a link pointing to the page. I added the link on each of two pages on other sites already indexed by Google.

The page was recached in just a few days, the page appeared for new search results a few days later too.

(Also note that the page still appears for old search terms that are no longer on the page, and the snippet reported when searching for old terms also contains content which is no longer on the real page, nor to be found in the Google cache, and the situation has been this way for many weeks now.)

[PatrickDeese]

I've found that it takes about 7-10 weeks to "train" googlebot to expect fresh content.

I added a "what's new" section to my home page and google started indexing it regularly for about 2 weeks, then left it alone for about 5 days, then came back of and on, now the site gets fresh tags about 25 days a month.