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Google's "cache:" operator is returning a 404 error.
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I'm doing the "cache:" operator on one of my sites and Google is returning a 404 error. I've swapped out the domain with another and it works fine. Has anyone seen this before?
I'm wondering if G is crawling the site now?
Thx!
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Hey G, what are the results from the sitemap, also make sure to check the compatibility of your plugins, caching, etc.
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Thanks for the response. Yes, that is what i did to force a recrawl. It was about 24 to 48 hours after that, I had the cache issue. Seemed like a possible correlation of G actively or very recently crawling and the G 404 page returning during that time.
Was wondering if anyone else had noticed that as well or if it was just a coincidence.
Thx again for your response and cheers!
G
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Submit your sitemap in Webmaster Tools to crawlers by using the Fetch as Google option. You'll have your website indexed within 24 hours. After that you can fix the eventual errors by analyzing the Health section from GWT.
Check this page for more info.
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