Stock outages and discontinuations are inevitable, so can this really have a detrimental effect on your website rankings?
Since 69% of online shoppers claim they would abandon their purchase and shop elsewhere if their desired item is out of stock, this is going to flag concerns for search algorithms when they are establishing rankings.
In this article, we are going to explain the impact that out-of-stock products can have on your SEO strategy and discuss seven different ways that you can protect your site from a drop in rankings – crucial for effective SEO for ecommerce .
How Do Out-of-Stock Products Impact SEO?
Although out-of-stock or discontinued products are bound to exist on an ecommerce website, this can still result in a negative impact on your SEO rankings.
The user experience is a number one priority, and if people arrive at your product page to find no stock, they are inevitably going to click straight off the website and head back to the search results – damaging your SEO for ecommerce in the eyes of search engines. If this happens frequently, search engines will assume that your website is not relevant to users and therefore lower your ranking position.
This logic also applies to backlinks. If your product page has built up a strong portfolio of links across other websites, this can result in traffic arriving on a deleted or outdated product page. This will have a knock-on impact on your overall domain authority rating, a key factor in your overall SEO performance.
Nowadays, tools like Hostinger’s AI Store Builder can be used to protect your ecommerce site in the competitive online environment. By managing inventory levels and optimizing product pages for search engines, you can ensure your website is creating the best possible user experience – in turn, reflecting in your SEO rankings.
7 Ways to Protect Your SEO Rankings
If you are worried about the impact that any out-of-stock or discontinued products are having on your SEO for ecommerce performance, here are seven steps you can take to minimize the damage.
1. Use Product Schema Markup
Product schema allows you to add extra information about a product listing on the search engine results page. This typically includes the price, product variants, and review ratings.
This helps your listings stand out in search results by increasing the size in comparison to other listings. By having more of an opportunity to grab the attention of viewers, the likelihood of an increase in click-through rate grows significantly.
In the case of stock outages, you can use product schema markup to update the “ItemAvailability” attribute. Options you can choose from include out-of-stock, discontinued, limited availability, and online only.
The example below shows how product schema markup looks on the search engine results page, providing extra information before a user even clicks through to the page.
In addition to providing users with more information on the status of the product, using product schema markup also supports search engine crawlers.
If they can see more details about the contents of the page, they will be able to index it more accurately. Since the status of the page is clear to the algorithm, this can help protect your SEO rankings.
2. Keep the Page in the XML Sitemap
For any website pages that contain out-of-stock or discontinued products, even if they are expected to remain out of stock for some time, it’s important to keep the page active in your sitemap.
If the page currently has a strong SEO ranking and a range of backlinks from other sites, deleting it can hinder overall SEO efforts. Instead, keeping it there will show search engines that the page is still crawlable. This will maintain the existing rankings and backlinks that you have built up over time.
Keeping the pages in your sitemap also solidifies your internal linking structure, especially for SEO for ecommerce when consistent indexing is key. If you have linked back to the pages from other areas of the site, removing them can leave you with dead ends – potentially hindering your SEO rankings.
Especially if you expect the product to come back in stock, maintaining the existing credentials of the page will prevent you from having to start from scratch by creating a new listing with no prior SEO value.
From a user perspective, keeping out-of-stock product pages live can also prove beneficial for those shopping around for a specific item. If they are searching your site for a product that once existed but is no longer available, it can be confusing and leave them frustrated.
If they can clearly see that the product they’re looking for is out of stock, they will have an answer and be able to come back at a later date.
3. Pause Any Paid Advertising Campaigns
One thing many ecommerce marketers fall into the trap of, especially when working on larger sites, is not updating their paid advertising campaigns.
If a product is not available to buy, your Google Ads or sponsored social media ads should be paused until the stock is replenished. Not only does the campaign waste your budget, but it can also impact the results since bounce rates and conversion rates are bound to drop.
Having users arrive at your site to find that the product they’re looking for is unavailable can have a knock-on effect on your overall brand reputation. As shoppers then head elsewhere to find what they need, you are losing custom to direct competitors.
To prevent this issue, you can implement Google Ads scripts to disable out-of-stock products from showing in your Google Ads campaigns. By adding some pre-written script that defines the conditions you wish to set, you can prevent out-of-stock products from displaying without having to update each and every campaign manually.
As well as preventing a high bounce rate from users arriving at the page to find the product is not available, this ensures your budget is being maximized on products that can create conversions.
4. Create 301 Redirects to Alternative Products
When you have worked hard to build up the authority of product pages on your website, the potential damage that can be caused by out-of-stock or discontinued products can undo your work.
If you are unable to restock the product in the near future, implementing a 301 redirect can help maintain the existing page rankings. This tactic is widely used in SEO for ecommerce and involves redirecting search engines to a different webpage that contains a relevant alternative. For example, if a shoe retailer were to run out of stock of a certain product, they could implement a 301 redirect that leads to a similar range from the same brand. This process helps prevent an increased bounce rate, subsequently protecting the existing ranking positions.
It’s important to make sure that the page you choose to redirect to is relevant to the original page. Whether that be a similar product or the broader category page, picking a page that still provides the user with a helpful outcome will minimize disruption and disappointment.
Since the 301 redirect maintains the authority of the web page while redirecting the user to a different page that may also be of use, both the search engine and the user will see a positive outcome. In fact, if the redirect results in conversions or good engagement, the SEO rankings of the page you’ve redirected to can actually improve.
5. Add 404 Errors to Discontinued Product Pages
If a 301 redirect is not a worthwhile approach for poor-performing website pages, it may be time to introduce a 404 error. A 404 error tells both search engines and users that the page they are looking for no longer exists.
This is necessary when a product is discontinued with no likelihood of returning. If the product was not a success and achieved little to no results, the page will not be worth redirecting as it will not have established a good ranking position or backlink portfolio.
Although having 404 errors across your website is not ideal, the honest approach is preferable to keeping a dead-end page live.
To make the most of the situation, ensure your 404 pages can still provide value to website visitors. After making it clear that the product they are looking for no longer exists, include helpful links to other areas of your site to encourage them to stick around. You can also include a search bar to increase the likelihood of users staying on your website and looking for other products that they may be on the hunt for.
Analyzing the metrics on a 404 page can actually be a great way to get insights into consumer behavior. Seeing whether users immediately bounce or engage with your suggested products will help you fine-tune your strategy and maximize the potential of your 404 pages.
The example below from Need Supply Co. is a good example of how a 404 page can still hold onto shoppers. The light-hearted message, alongside a search bar and product suggestions, provides plenty of different avenues that can help keep users on their site.
6. Activate Email Notifications When Stock Returns
If a user is desperate to get their hands on one of your products, setting up email notifications provides a great opportunity for all parties.
By having the option to enter their email address and get notified as soon as stock returns, users are able to make a purchase as soon as possible.
In addition to creating a happy customer, this is a great opportunity for your business to expand its mailing list and bring back shoppers. Once you know the type of product a user is interested in, you can create segmented mailing lists and target them with content that is likely to catch their eye. By utilizing email marketing potential, you can increase the likelihood of retaining interest and growing your customer base.
From an SEO for ecommerce perspective, this is an effective way to increase the authority of the website page. Pages that are generating email sign-ups show the algorithms that people are interested in your website.
By encouraging engagement and increasing the amount of time a user is spending on the page, the search engine will consider the page to be relevant, increasing the likelihood of it maintaining, or even increasing, its ranking position.
7. Prevent the Items From Being Added to Carts
Your website should be set up to prevent out-of-stock or discontinued items from being added to carts. A snippet of code can be added to your website to ensure that the “Add to Cart” button is either greyed out or removed completely, avoiding confusion for site visitors.
To prevent users from bouncing when they arrive at a product page to see that it is out of stock, consider replacing the “Add to Cart” button with alternative options. This could be a “Notify me when back in stock” option or links to similar products.
If you know when the product is expected to be back in stock, letting shoppers know is a great way to encourage them to return and avoid shopping elsewhere. Transparency is respected among customers and being provided with information will provide a more positive experience that will reflect on your brand.
Not only does this approach prevent frustration for users who are trying to make a purchase, but it can also prevent damage to your SEO rankings. Having a higher cart abandonment rate can imply to search engines that your website is not providing users with a successful shopping experience, losing your current position in search results.
The image below is an example of a product from Fashion Nova that is out of stock. The page is blurred to prevent confusion, and it instead focuses on entering an email address to get updates when it is back in stock. There are also suggested products which are available in the user’s size.
Key Takeaways for Ecommerce SEO
Although out-of-stock products and discontinued lines are a standard part of an ecommerce business, the risk they pose to your SEO rankings can make it feel like a never-ending battle.
Being aware of the factors that search engine algorithms look out for when crawling sites will help you maintain your rankings instead of watching all of your hard work disappear when you are facing stock shortages.
Let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from this Ecommerce SEO guide:
- The user experience is a number one priority: Coming across discontinued or out-of-stock product pages significantly impacts a user’s experience on your storefront. By managing inventory levels and optimizing product pages for search engines, you can ensure your website is creating the best possible user experience – in turn, reflecting in your SEO rankings.
- Prepare your site ahead of time: In the case of stock outages, use a product schema markup to update the “ItemAvailability” attribute, this alerts your customers to out-of-stock products in Google search results.
- Create redirects or error codes for discontinued stock: Out-of-stock or discontinued products could have serious impacts on your domain authority. To avoid this, add 404 errors to discontinued product pages and 301 redirects to alternative products.
- Tell your customers when products are restocked: Give your leads the opportunity to return to your online store by alerting them to a live product page.
Ecommerce SEO is constantly evolving. As the competition to win over customers online increases, so do the requirements for online stores hoping to rank well.
By taking steps to update your site when products are out of stock, you are not only protecting your SEO for ecommerce rankings but are also providing a better user experience for your shoppers.
