Todo steps when you switch products offline.

[Onlinedesignmeubel]

Dear SEOMoz community,

By means of this message I hope someone can clear this up for me.

Let's say you have a web shop and sometimes you have to put a product offline, because they are not in production anymore.

Could anyone tell me they activities that you have to undertook when you switch products to offline? Think about the redirection of URL, etc.

Preferably a specific answer will be most appreciated :).

Thanks in advance,

Martin

[SEOAndy]

The process we use with several clients follows this flow

is the product out of stock temporarily?
-Yes, leave page up but remove from category pages

is product out of stock permenantly?
-Yes, redirect to category page and remove category page links (if not done automatically).

[MattJanaway]

That should do it. Nothing else really to consider as long as the page no longer has internal links going to it.

On a side note, ensure that the redirect is relevant. For example, if you were a visitor to a website and thought you were looking for a torch, you wouldn't be happy if you were redirected to a bird cage. This would usually just result in them leaving your site and would probably have an adverse effect on your site's performance as drop rates would increase.

If something really cannot be redirected to another similar page then redirecting to the homepage is your best bet.

[Onlinedesignmeubel]

Thanks for your quick responce, I appreciate.

Is that everything what I should do? Or are there other aspects I have to consider?

We are redirecting them like u said.

Best regards,

Martin

[MattJanaway]

I'm assuming by taking them offline you mean discontinuing the product permanently? If so, it is important that you 301 redirect (always 301 redirect unless the product is coming back at some point) the page to the nearest closest product or if there is nothing similar that you sell, redirecting it back to the closest category page.

Hope this helps a little?

Matt