Website showing 404 Error in Google Cache – How we fixed it

If you are one of those fellow website owners who are having a difficult time viewing the cached version on Google, then this post is for you. By the end of this post, you will come to know how to view the exact crawl date despite getting Google web cache 404 errors on your website.

Before jumping on the solution promised, let’s take some of the queries found on different news, forums and discussion board listing with a wide range of thought and arguments.

  • Google cache 404 error will impact your search rankings or not.
  • How to fix Google cache 404 error.
  • How to solve Google cache 404 error.
  • I am getting 404 errors while checking to cache of old websites.
  • My website is not showing “cache option” in the search result.
  • My site isn’t showing up in Google Search, but my results were very good for searching for a specific keyword.
  • What should I do for my site to regain its top Google position?

Before proceeding further, we would like to assure you guys –

This can happen.

And the Google cache 404 is Google’s problem and not your site’s! You must have noticed these errors are not coming on Yahoo or Bing. It’s only on Google. And it is not going to impact your search engine rankings.

As per a recent discussion with Reddit, John Mueller from Google said, “if your cache link in Google returns a 404 error, it doesn’t mean your rankings will be hurt in Google”. Furthermore, he clarifies Google Cache 404ing is an internal issue with the Google Cache server and doesn’t reflect on indexing or ranking of the web page.

And from Google end not having a cache link is not a low-quality factor or ranking factor.

Still seems to have some doubt!

Let us help you see the exact cache data regardless of whether you are getting a 404 cache error for your website. Follow these steps:

We are also getting Google 404 cache error and we were searching for a method to see whether is actually hurting our rankings or our site pages are getting de-indexed from Google database. And we conducted research and found these errors have nothing to do with indexing or keyword rankings; it’s just an issue with Google caching server. And we found a way to see the last cache date and version of our pages.

So hang on tight and follow these simple steps.
Step 1
In Google.com search <site:https://yourwebsite.com>

Step 2
We searched for <site:http://oldiverve.i-verve.com/>

Step 3
Navigate to URL/URL’s for which you want to see the last crawl version and date

Step 4
We are checking the last crawl date and version for one of our website URL – <http://oldiverve.i-verve.com//company>

Step 5
Select drop down beside the URL – See example below

Step 6
You will get this URL, check this error very carefully – <https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:99Dp74w4yqAJ:http://oldiverve.i-verve.com//company+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in>

Step 7
Now locate <“J:”>

Step 8
Remove codes/phrases after <“J:”>

Step 9
And append it with <x.xyz/>

Step 10
The final URL will be something like this – <https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:99Dp74w4yqAJ:x.xyz/>

Step 11
And here are the details you were looking for

Step 6
You will get this URL, check this error very carefully – <https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:99Dp74w4yqAJ:http://oldiverve.i-verve.com//company+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in>

Step 7
Now locate <“J:”>

Step 8
Remove codes/phrases after <“J:”>

Step 9
And append it with <x.xyz/>

Step 10
The final URL will be something like this – <https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:99Dp74w4yqAJ:x.xyz/>

Step 11
And here are the details you were looking for