Removed auto content posts - how long until url's are deindexed?

[_sleeper_]

I'm moving away from using autocontent on any of my sites, so I've removed hundreds of posts and added only original content. Webmaster Tools now shows all of the deleted post urls as 404 (not found).

I know I could go through and individually request URL removal, but with hundreds of posts, that would take forever.

Is there a better way to lose those url's so I can 'start fresh' with only original content? If not, how long does it usually take for Google to recognize all of those url's are gone and deindex them on its own?

[yukon]

Yes, the way I do my Wordpress sites is catch all the 404s (with my WP 404.php page) & redirect them to my Index page with a 301 redirect. This will tell Google the page has permanently moved to a new url/location.

Do this & keep building new content, the more active your site the faster Google will find the new 301 redirects & cancel out all those 404s.

[_sleeper_]

Thanks for the response. Do you use a plug-in to create the 301 redirects or just edit .htaccess?

The more I read about the subject, I see you're exactly right. Leaving unmanaged 404's isn't good.