Comments on: Outdated but Powerful Pages : How to Handle Them?

By: paisley

paisley — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:32:17 +0000

You can pass pagerank in approx. 8 weeks to the new page using a few common HTML statements.

By: Jason Billingsley

Jason Billingsley — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:51:20 +0000

MUST remember:
The success of a page often comes from the links pointing into it. If a product is out of stock, it is a pretty poor practice to keep category page product listings and related item product links pointing to it. Why promote items people cannot purchase?

So, the loss of internal links would affect the SERP position most likely (because rarely do individual products garnish external backlinks).

My take:

1. Drop the product from category page product grids and related item lists
2. Keep the page live
3. Display replacement product (if available) as a STRONG call to action on the page
4. Cross-sell and up-sell related items
5. Maintain accessory selling on page (some people bookmark a product in order to come back and purchase related accessories)

By: Trezora - Art Glass, Fashion Jewelry

Trezora - Art Glass, Fashion Jewelry — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:38:51 +0000

Ann,

Thanks for suggestion #2 – that is spot on advice. We have many handmade one-of-a-kind items like art and jewelry and once they are sold we’d like to keep the page alive as it helps with content. In order to have a positive customer experience, we’ll need to keep these types of items to a minimum (too many items that customers can’t buy anger customers) and as you suggest only on items that have relevance, page rank, links, etc…

Thanks,

Mendy

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:19:25 +0000

@Software — I was confused by “permanent” and “temporary” redirects at first. When you use a permanent (301) redirect, it doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteeing that redirect will never be lifted or change, it simply means that (for the time being) this URL is wholly equivalent to that other URL.

A temporary redirect (302) should be used where you’re only redirecting a visitor in certain circumstances.

Say, for example, that someone has just commented on your blog. Instead of providing the updated page content in response to their form submission, it’s best to issue a 302 redirect them back to the canonical blog post URL. That way, if they click refresh, they won’t end up sending their comment again.

By: Software Testing

Software Testing — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:06:40 +0000

@ Ann, Thanks :)

But how SEs will react after removing a 301 redirect. Will it regain the old cache of the page or index the old page considering it as a new one.

By: Ann Smarty

Ann Smarty — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:54:45 +0000

@Software Testing : good point on removing 301… The reason why I recommend 301 is because the page power (links, rankings, etc) is transferred to the new page. However if you expect the product to be back on stock, you’d better not implement redirect at all – use solution #2: keep the page, make it clear the product is temporally out of stock and offer related products and information.

By: Software Testing

Software Testing — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:11:57 +0000

@ Ann, if it is a out-of-stock page, why do yo u recommend 301, why can’t a 302 help?

If the stock is back or the if new version of the same product is available, what will happen if we remove the 301, how the SEs will react to it, especially the big G?

By: Elishua

Elishua — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:43:03 +0000

Thanks for emphasizing that 301′s should be reserved for “very related” pages. Always keep that user in mind :)

By: Jaan Kanellis

Jaan Kanellis — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:45:35 +0000

I have had success using the 301 redirection method. It is best for the end user and the engines as long as the copy on the new page is explanatory, if necessary.