In this article we are going to deal with a problem that is more or less recurrent in any ecommerce SEO, and now with the whole issue of the pandemic perhaps even more recurrent, and that is what to do with the pages of products without stock, or that we cannot directly sell through them due to supply problems or the like. In this article we will try to see some solutions that we can use to work with these product pages without stock.
From the SEO point of view, in general, it is essential that these pages continue to exist, especially if we are going to have stock again, since otherwise we may lose opportunities against our competitors and above all work done previously that would not serve for “nothing”, but as always each ecommerce is a world, and there is no concrete solution.
- If you are going to have Stock again
- If you are NOT going to have Stock again
Other problems of not having stock: Empty categories
Common practices when managing non-stock product pages in SEO
Error 404 (Not found)
301 (Permanent Redirect)
302 (Temporary Redirect)
Mark availability with Schema
Conclusion: Out-of-stock products are more of a UX problem than an SEO problem
SEO recommendations for product pages without Stock in an ecommerce
- If you are going to have Stock again
If you are going to have stock again more or less quickly, you are not interested in losing this page, since if you delete it you will lose all the signals you have, so the recommendation in this case is to continue leaving it indexed and as a general rule not to delete its internal linking (but if we should deprioritize its visibility in the store). In any case, in order not to create a bad user experience, we should offer something to users who land on this page so that they do not leave with a bad taste in their mouths, and it is that in general, running out of stock is often one more problem of UX than SEO.
Here are some ideas we can offer:
If we are clear when we will have stock, say the date on which it will be available and give the option to buy with shipping on that date, or leave a notice so that they can leave their email and send a notification when the product is available again, in this way we will not lose the lead.
Show related products of which we do have stock with a clear claim, helping users to derive their purchase intention towards these products without stock. In many cases it is not feasible, but if you can it is a good option. unrelated or similar to the product without stock, it is very difficult for them to end up in a sale.
- If you are NOT going to have Stock again
If you are not going to have stock of that product again then it does not make much sense for that product page to continue to exist, since it will not help you convert and will create a bad user experience, which in the end will lead to the signals you are receiving. Google of your online store, therefore if you are not going to have stock again, here are some ideas for you to apply in your ecommerce:
Product page receives visits or has links pointing to it: The recommendation is to make a 301 redirection to the most similar product possible, or failing that, to a category totally related to that product, in this way we can partially maintain those visits and we will spoil all those links.
If there is a similar product or a new version: In this case, the recommendation is to also do a 301 redirect, so we will take the traffic and pass the signals to the new product url, and for the user it will be a “clean” transition.
If there is no related product, no stock or anything: My recommendation is to return a 410 error, which means “no longer available”, and thus Google will not lose crawling resources on that page and you will not have the online store full of zombie products without stock (and that they will not have it again)
Other problems of not having stock: Empty categories
Another problem that comes from the lack of stock of products is that it can happen that certain categories or product grids are empty or with very few products, which also generates consequences at the SEO level, since SERPs generally where the predominance is to show product categories, a url without products in that category is likely to not appear or directly disappear from that SERPs. Therefore, in general, it is necessary to control that when one or more products run out of stock, the categories associated with these products do not remain empty, and if so, try to put means to solve it. Such as leaving that product in “zombie mode” in that category, or categorizing new products within the category.
It is not the most common, but I have seen it happen in many cases, so if you can, check this part as well.
Common practices when managing non-stock product pages in SEO
These are some of the common practices when managing product pages without stock, and like everything in SEO there is no specific solution, but here we leave you some of them, and why they are not a good solution in most cases , and especially considering that we will have stock soon.
Error 404 (Not found)
Do not return a 404 error to these product pages. These products will come back and you will want to sell them fast. If you return a 404 error for a certain amount of time and then return a 200 again (and this process will probably repeat itself several times), you will end up making a mess for Google and it will probably end up not crawling and indexing this page again, which will end up being an SEO problem to sell that product again from that same page. In short, not recommended
301 (Permanent Redirect)
The 301 redirect code may be the most common in the SEO world, but when it comes to pages without stock, it is preferable not to use it. First, the product still exists and you don’t want to move anywhere permanently. On the other hand, reversing a 301 can be a process that takes more time than desired in terms of presence in the SERPs. So, just like with the 404, we’re likely to shoot ourselves in the foot. The only exception would be if a product went out of stock prompting the manufacturer to permanently replace it with a similar product, so a 301 redirect might be a good solution. Each case and each ecommerce is different, but as a general rule and applying to products without stock, you should not apply a 301.
302 (Temporary Redirect)
At first glance, this might seem like a good solution, temporarily redirecting out-of-stock products to similar products with stock. In addition, being temporary, we could reverse the process more or less quickly (perhaps not, with this redirection, it is not known). Of course, it would also lower the conversion and could generally be an SEO problem, so in principle it is not a recommended option.
Mark availability with Schema
You can use the availability property in schema such as InStock, InStoreOnly, OutOfStock and SoldOut. Once checked, Google will surely choose to show this information in the SERPs
At this point we could give you two approaches. First of all, Google will surely appreciate your sincerity (probably not), but you as a webmaster are probably not interested in the fact that the serps show an “Out of stock” in your result while the rest are in stock (although they may not have them either) and with the consequences at the ctr and SEO level that this will bring. Secondly, we are still dealing with the problem of time. You can automate the switch from “In Stock” to “Out of Stock” in real time, but Google still has to track and update that information, and that takes time.
Conclusion: Out-of-stock products are more of a UX problem than an SEO problem
As a final conclusion, we could say that products without stock and from my point of view are more a UX problem than an SEO problem. That is to say, in general, the problems that we encounter with regard to the user experience are greater than those that we encounter at the SEO level, but it is true that doubts or problems such as the ones we have seen previously may arise. We hope that this article has been helpful to you when it comes to managing your out-of-stock products in your ecommerce, which in these times of crisis can be quite common.
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