// eCommerce
Out-of-Stock Pages: How to Handle Them for SEO Without Losing Traffic
What to do with out-of-stock product pages: keep them, redirect them, or remove them, and the SEO implications of each choice.
The out-of-stock page dilemma
Removing out-of-stock pages loses the SEO value you have built. Keeping them with no indication the product is unavailable frustrates visitors.
Temporary out-of-stock: keep the page, show clear availability status, offer email notification, show alternatives. Permanently discontinued: 301 redirect to the category page.
Best practices and WebEnture
Show clear stock status above the fold. Offer email notification capture. Do not block Google from indexing out-of-stock pages: the ranking signals stay while you are restocking.
WebEnture's Inventory Alert Agent monitors your product pages and alerts you when products show out-of-stock or low-inventory signals.
- Clear OOS status above fold
- Email notification signup: captures demand
- Related products: keep visitors on-site
- Keep indexed: do not noindex temporarily out-of-stock pages
- Product schema: update availability to 'OutOfStock'