Out of stock product page: keep it, redirect it or remove it

The short answer

For an out of stock product page, keep the page live and say plainly that the item is unavailable if it will return. Offer an alert or alternatives. If the product is gone for good, redirect to a close replacement or return a 404 or 410 status once it has served its purpose. Never leave a page that still looks buyable.

Match the page to the reason the product is unavailable

An out of stock product page should do different things depending on why the product is unavailable. Treating every case the same way, by deleting the page or by leaving it untouched, is where most stores go wrong.

Keep the page when the product will return

Google's documentation for temporarily unavailable products says to keep the page live and mark the product as out of stock, and it advises against using its removals tool for stock-outs. A page that keeps its address, its reviews and its inbound links is ready the day stock arrives. A page that was removed has to start again.

If the page uses structured data, the availability value has to match what the shopper sees on screen. Product markup supports values for out of stock and for discontinued. Many platforms output these from stock levels without being asked, so ask your developer to confirm what yours does rather than assuming, and check the current documentation for the exact values.

What to put on an out of stock product page so shoppers stay

Say it first. Put the status next to the product title or the buy button in plain words: currently unavailable. A greyed button with no explanation looks like a fault.

• Replace the add to cart button with the option you really offer, such as an email alert, a pre-order or a link to a similar item.
• Show alternatives chosen by something real: same category, same use, similar size range. Random suggestions waste the space.
• Give a restock date only when you have one from the supplier. A date you invent becomes a promise you break.
• Keep the reviews, photos, specifications and size information. They help the shopper judge the alternatives as well.
• Link back to the category and keep the search box visible.

Back-in-stock alerts and pre-orders each have their own rules, set out in the guide to pre-orders and back in stock alerts. The point here is only that an unavailable page should offer one of them, not nothing.

When only one option is out

If one size or colour is unavailable, keep the product buyable. Show every option and mark the missing one clearly, with a strike-through or a label reading sold out. Hiding it makes shoppers think it was never made, and they cannot ask to be told when it returns.

Choose a default selection that is in stock, so the page does not load with an unavailable option already picked. When the last option sells out, the product as a whole is unavailable and the rules above apply.

Discontinued products: keep, redirect or delete

For a product that will not return, Google has said that deleting the page is fine from a search point of view. Usability is a separate matter. People may still arrive from old links, bookmarks, emails or reviews, and a dead end loses them. The options are to keep the page for a while with a clear notice, to redirect it, or to return a 404 or 410 status.

Redirect only when the destination meets the same need: a newer version of the product, or a closely related one. Google's advice is to redirect to relevant content and to return a 404 or 410 when nothing on the site fills the same need. A redirect from every retired product to the home page sends shoppers somewhere they did not ask to go.

Google has said it treats 404 and 410 alike, so either is acceptable. What to avoid is a soft 404: a page that says the product has gone but still returns a normal 200 status. The status code should tell the truth. Google has also said that a large number of 404 pages does not by itself harm the rest of a site. Soft 404s are easy to miss in a store review, so test a few retired addresses in a browser and in Search Console. Google's guidance on these points has been given in several places and can change, so check the current documentation before you set a rule for the whole catalogue.

A routine for retiring a product

1. Decide whether there is a true replacement. If so, note its address.
2. Mark the old page as discontinued, remove the buy button, and link to the replacement or the category.
3. Leave it live for a period that suits the product, then review. Items bought as spares or refills may need longer.
4. Search your site, your emails and the main pages that link to you, and update the links you control.
5. Redirect to the replacement, or let the address return 404 or 410 with an error page that offers search and your main categories.
6. Remove the product from sitemaps, feeds and ads, so no one is sent to a page that no longer exists.
7. Check category pages so retired products do not leave gaps or empty categories.

Feeds, ads and markup must agree with the page

Anything that sends shoppers to a product page has to match what the page says. A feed that lists an item as available when the page says otherwise wastes clicks and can cause problems in advertising accounts, so check each platform's current rules. Your sitemap should list live pages only. Fix the stock status in one place and let the feed, the markup and the buy button all read from it.

Stock accuracy comes first

None of this works if the stock count is wrong. Stock held in one place and updated by hand is easy to keep correct. Stock spread across a shop, a warehouse and supplier feeds needs automatic syncing, with a rule for what happens when two orders arrive for the last unit.

How closely the website follows your real stock is a design decision, and it changes the size of an ecommerce build. The guide to what affects the cost of an ecommerce website sets out the other factors. If you are still setting up, stock rules belong in the plan from the start, and the steps for starting an online store show where they fit.

Delivery wording and page speed

Unavailable pages still need honest delivery wording. If you accept pre-orders or promise a return date, your policy should say what happens when the date slips. The guide to writing shipping and returns policies covers the wording.

Keep these pages light. Alert forms, recommendation blocks and review widgets each add scripts, and a slow page loses the shopper before the alternatives appear. The guide to ecommerce site speed, product images and scripts explains what to trim.

A monthly check

Once a month, list the unavailable products that still get visits, using your analytics or Search Console. For each one, check that the status is clear, an alternative or alert is offered, and the markup matches. Then look at what visitors do after landing: whether they search, click an alternative or leave. That shows whether the page is helping.

If your platform makes these changes hard, such as setting a discontinued status or a conditional redirect, raise it with your developer. The ecommerce solutions page describes the kind of store work Liftup Technologies takes on.

Related guides

• Ecommerce solutions
• How to start an online store steps in order
• Shipping and returns policy how to write them
• Ecommerce Site Speed: How to Fix Slow Product Pages
• Ecommerce product page checklist
• Url structure best practices for seo

Questions and answers

What should I do with an out-of-stock page?

If the product will return, keep the page live, say clearly that it is unavailable and offer an alert or alternatives. Make the structured data and the buy button agree with the stock status. Do not delete the page or redirect it for a short stock-out.

Should I delete discontinued products?

Google has said that deleting a page is fine from a search point of view, but shoppers may still arrive from old links. Keep the page for a while with a notice, then redirect to a close replacement or return a 404 or 410 status if nothing equivalent exists.

How do I keep shoppers on the site?

Say the item is unavailable near the title, offer a back-in-stock alert or pre-order, and show relevant alternatives from the same category. Keep reviews and specifications on the page and leave the search box visible.

Should an out-of-stock page return a 404?

No, not if the product will come back. A page that is meant to exist should return a normal status and say the item is unavailable. Use 404 or 410 only for products that are permanently removed.

Should I hide out-of-stock products from category pages?

For a short stock-out, many stores leave the product visible but move it lower or label it, so shoppers can still find it and ask for an alert. For discontinued products, remove them from category lists once the page is retired.

Do out-of-stock pages hurt my search performance?

Google gives no instruction to remove temporarily unavailable pages. It advises keeping them live and keeping markup accurate. How well a page performs depends on many things besides stock.