Out-of-stock product pages have long been a dilemma for search engine optimizers.
It’s tempting for merchants to remove those pages and focus on available inventory. But the pages are indexed in Google and likely generate organic traffic, especially if they have backlinks. Shoppers will land on those pages, looking to view the products.
Thus merchants need to benefit from the clicks while ensuring visitors have a good experience.
As a rule, never:
- Return a 404 error. This will force most visitors to return to Google’s search results.
- Redirect those pages. Redirecting will preserve traffic and link equity but, more importantly, will confuse visitors.
Typically, the best tactics are:
- Keep the pages live and indexable,
- Ensure both humans and search engines know those products are out of stock.
Retain Live Pages
Keeping the pages live preserves clicks and drives alternative product sales and email subscriptions. Moreover, live pages recover traffic quickly when the goods become available.
Thus:
- Offer to notify visitors when the product is back in stock.
- If the item is permanently discontinued, link to closely-related goods with a similar search intent. Shoppers coming from organic search likely queried a long-tail, highly focused need. They know what they want.
- Reduce the price of the related items if necessary. The key is retaining a long-term customer.
Communicate Status
Transparency is the best policy for both shoppers and Google. You’re bound to lose sales, so...
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