Handling pages that are no longer relevant (both permanently and temporarily)
-
Hi,
We run a travel site with a number of programs, and each program has its own dedicate page, ie example.com/programs/program-xyz
Some of these programs stop running and we no longer offer them, other-times they are on hold and will be reactivated later.
Our old strategy was to 301-redirect these programs to another, relevant program.
However, I believe that could be flawed. Would it not be a better solution to display the page as normal (with a 200 code) and instead of having the details of the program rather show some text saying the program has stopped and list a few suggestions.
I just don't want to set off any spam-flags by pushing SE value via a 301 redirect to unrelated pages
Here are some other scenarios I was thinking:
-
For the program are only temporarily on-hold (ie not taking bookings for now) 302 redirect those to more appropriate pages
-
For programs that are permanently on-hold (ie will never take bookings again) show a custom 404 or 410 page (With text with suggestions of different programs)
Any suggestions or feedback on this would be most appreciated.
-Jason
-
-
First off, I like the way you're thinking through this - it's critical to understand that no one solution should be applied to every scenario, so here are my thoughts on what you should do:
- For programs no longer offered, I would leave the page up with a notification that it's discontinued plus related products ('this program is no longer offered, but here are some other programs you might like'). Your idea of having a custom 404 for discontinued products (with the same type of language) could also work. If you do 301 redirect visitors, I suggest going to the category page & also incorporating some way of letting the visitor know. You basically want to avoid confusing the visitor by taking them somewhere different than expected.
- For the programs temporarily on hold, do not 302 redirect them - 302s should be avoided in almost all cases. Instead, leave the page live & let the visitor know that this program is currently unavailable, with a CTA to be alerted via email as soon as it's available. Also have related products in case they need the program/service now.
There's an old Moz post (that I can't find atm) where Rand explains how he dealt with this situation - I believe he had the same idea as I shared, followed by closely monitoring the traffic to the pages; then adding 301s to the very low trafficked pages & working to improve the messaging/CTA/UX of the ones still receiving traffic.
I hope this helps!
-
I've given this some further thought and I guess ones needs to keep in mind that just because from a business point of view the actual program is not running doesn't mean the page it is shown on should be affected. If the page is has inbound links, why waste some of that value by 301 redirecting to another page - rather keep the existing value of that page and pass that on to other internal pages using 'other suggested programs' links.
-
301 for permanent changes to programs but I would think that if the program just isn't available at certain times it would be better to return a normal 200 page with the message saying it's not currently running as you suggested
This would seem to make sense from a Google point of view that the page would still be indexed but also from a customer perspective you would presumably still want them to know that you run that program even if it's not currently running - it may be running again for the time they want to use it.
-
Hi, If you want to permanently delete a page and there is still ( a lot) traffic on . i'll think it's best to redirect the page to a relevant one. when there is no traffic and no backlinks, delete it, and delete the page with the url removal from Google webmastertools.
With temporary /on hold pages, i used to give them a 302, but lately i started a test to see what's better. I keep the pages alive, with content and links to another page. I still have to find out what's best, ( just testing this for 1 month) but the bouncerate is low. I want my clients to go to another section of the website, i explain this in the content with the right links.
Grtz, Leonie
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Page speed - what do you aim for?
Hi Mozzers - was just looking at website speed and know the google guidelines on average page load time but I'm not sure whether Google issues guidelines on any of the other 4? Do you know of any guidance on domain lookup, server response, server connection or page download? Page Load Time (sec) - I tend to aim for 2 seconds max: http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/your-website-design-should-load-in-4-seconds/
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | McTaggart
Server Response Time: [Google recommends 200ms]: https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/Server Redirection Time (sec) [dependent on number of redirects so probably no guide figure]
Domain Lookup Time (sec)
Server Connection Time (sec)
Page Download Time (sec) Thanks, Luke0 -
How to optimize count of interlinking by increasing Interlinking count of chosen landing pages and decreasing for less important pages within the site?
We have taken out our interlinking counts (Only Internal Links and not Outbound Links) through Google WebMaster tool and discovered that the count of interlinking of our most significant pages are less as compared to of less significant pages. Our objective is to reverse the existing behavior by increasing Interlinking count of important pages and reduce the count for less important pages so that maximum link juice could be transferred to right pages thereby increasing SEO traffic.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | vivekrathore0 -
Pages Disappearing from Search
Hi, We have had a strongly ranking site since 2004. Over the past couple of days, our Google traffic has dropped by around 20% and some of our strong pages are completely disappearing from the rankings. They are still indexed, but having ranked number 1 are nowhere to be found. A number of pages still remain intact, but it seems they are increasingly disappearing. Where should we start to try and find out what is happening? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | simonukss0 -
Does it make sense to create new pages with friendlier URLs then redirect old pages to new?
Hi Moz! My client has messy URLs. does it make sense to write new clean URLs, then 301 redirect all old URLs to the new ones? Thanks for reading!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DA20130 -
Embedded mobile page?
I have a client who wants a mobile version of their homepage. Normally, I use responsive design to accomplish this for the SEO benefit, but in this case the client wants very different information on the mobile home page than their regular home page. I don't want to go to a dedicated mobile version of the page because they get a fair amount of mobile traffic and so it would probably have a significant negative impact on their SEO to do so. So I was thinking I would add a hidden div to the home page which includes everything they want on the mobile home page and then use CSS to hide the regular content and show the hidden content if someone reaches the page from a smart phone. What do you think about this idea? Would I run afoul of Google's anti-cloaking "rules"? Has anyone done something like this before? Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | farlandlee0 -
How Bad is it to Not Have a Home Page?
The site I'm currently developing is far different than any other project I've every worked on in that search traffic is likely to represent only a very small percentage of the total traffic. Because of this, I want to make sure I optimize the site for the people clicking from Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc more so than the BIG G. I can't for the life of me think of a reason to have a home page other than for SEO purposes. I'd much rather throw the user directly into the experience than have him be distracted by a home page. At the same time, I'd like to salvage any search engine traffic that I can. My plan is to 301 redirect chucklebot.com/ to /funny-memes/SOME_RANDOM_IMAGE and then put the content of the current home page at /about. Does that kill any possibility of the site ranking well? Or can the subpages (eg /meme-generator) still rank well if they are properly optimized? Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | PatrickGriffith0 -
Linking to local pages on main page - keyword self-cannibalization issue?
Hi guys, Our website has this landing page: www.example.com/service1/ Is this considered keyword self-cannibalization if on the above page we link to local pages such as: www.example.com/service1-in-chicago/ www.example.com/service1-in-newyork/ www.example.com/service1-in-texas/ Many thanks David
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | sssrpm0 -
Page URL Issue
Hey Friend, I am having sort of a problem. I currently have a subpage with the url of: /musclecars/ I also have a subpage at /muscle-cars/muscle-car-restoration.html Obviously my main url is not listed here. My problem is I am trying to rank for the term Muscle Cars but the first URL does not have the keywords seperated so I rank no where. If I type MuscleCars into google I rank though (but nobody types the keyword in like that). So my question is can I create muscle-cars.mydomainname.com and rank well with that? Or is it better to just use mydomainname.com/muscle-cars/ even though that second term I am ranking for already has that in its url?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | shandaman0