Due to a supplier company entering administration, we have now replaced the tools range we used to sell with a new range. We have moved all the old tool products to a Discontinued category, and set up redirects on all similar products which is good for SEO. We have several products with no direct replacements so, when questioning Gemini AI it suggested linking to the sub category the product was in. ChatGPT suggested something similar.
Two very simple changes to my older Soft Redirect code and a bit of a change in the database, and we can now soft redirect to a category or sub category. Thanks Gary @burt for the initial code. This shows the flexibility of Phoenix.
We know its a good idea to do things like these redirects, but can anyone see any reason why this may be a bad idea?
Products soft redirect and SEO
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BatteryTrader
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Re: Products soft redirect and SEO
With old products, if i have something to replace it, i generally overwrite the product with it.
If it's something I cannot replace, or at least yet, I will set it so it cannot be purchased, maybe even have info on there to a similar product page.
Used to delete products and 301, do not do that anymore, the list in either htacess or conf just gets too big over the years.
Certainly would not 302 any of them, can not see a temp divert being a good idea from a product to a category or the other way around.
Use Screaming Frog to analyse rather than wait for Google Merchant Centre, and then its 6 months too late.
Just my pennies worth.
regards
David
If it's something I cannot replace, or at least yet, I will set it so it cannot be purchased, maybe even have info on there to a similar product page.
Used to delete products and 301, do not do that anymore, the list in either htacess or conf just gets too big over the years.
Certainly would not 302 any of them, can not see a temp divert being a good idea from a product to a category or the other way around.
Use Screaming Frog to analyse rather than wait for Google Merchant Centre, and then its 6 months too late.
Just my pennies worth.
regards
David
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14Steve14
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Re: Products soft redirect and SEO
We’ve been monitoring the changes we made after discontinuing most of our Silverline tools range, and overall we’re seeing some positive results, so sorry for the long post.
After removing the product range, we tested several different approaches:
1. Moving products to a discontinued category and hiding them
Our first attempt was to move the products into a “discontinued” category and remove them from site visibility. As expected, this resulted in no improvement—traffic and visibility remained unchanged, so there was no real benefit to this approach for us or the customers.
2. Replacing products directly (same listing, updated details)
We then tried replacing some items directly within the existing product listings. This involved updating the product name, keeping the model number, and changing identifiers such as the GTIN. What we found here was a noticeable drop in search engine visibility. Products that were previously ranking on page 1 for specific search terms fell to page 5 or 6 and have remained there. Clearly not the outcome we were hoping for.
3. Keeping original listings live with soft redirects to replacements
Next, we left the original products in their existing categories and created copies in a discontinued category. We then used the Product Soft Redirect module on both, adding a message and link from the old product page to a suitable replacement. The original product was kept live but set to zero stock.
This has worked well. We’ve seen strong sales of the replacement products, and importantly, search engine listings now show the redirected pages rather than sending customers to outdated or unavailable items. Positive for both us, and the customers.
4. Redirecting discontinued products without direct replacements
For items with no direct replacement, we moved them to the discontinued category, kept them live with zero stock, and used the soft redirect to point users to the main category instead. This allows customers to browse similar or alternative products.
This approach has also been successful. Customers are still finding these products via search engines, seeing the redirect message, and then navigating to the category where they often purchase related items. At the same time, these pages continue to appear in search results, meaning their existing “search value” is still benefiting the site.
Summary
The most effective approach for us has been to keep discontinued products live (but out of stock) and use soft redirects—either to direct replacements or to relevant categories. This preserves search visibility while still guiding customers toward available products. Still having the product live but out of stock on all the other products is giving us time to source replacements without loosing search engine visibility.
After removing the product range, we tested several different approaches:
1. Moving products to a discontinued category and hiding them
Our first attempt was to move the products into a “discontinued” category and remove them from site visibility. As expected, this resulted in no improvement—traffic and visibility remained unchanged, so there was no real benefit to this approach for us or the customers.
2. Replacing products directly (same listing, updated details)
We then tried replacing some items directly within the existing product listings. This involved updating the product name, keeping the model number, and changing identifiers such as the GTIN. What we found here was a noticeable drop in search engine visibility. Products that were previously ranking on page 1 for specific search terms fell to page 5 or 6 and have remained there. Clearly not the outcome we were hoping for.
3. Keeping original listings live with soft redirects to replacements
Next, we left the original products in their existing categories and created copies in a discontinued category. We then used the Product Soft Redirect module on both, adding a message and link from the old product page to a suitable replacement. The original product was kept live but set to zero stock.
This has worked well. We’ve seen strong sales of the replacement products, and importantly, search engine listings now show the redirected pages rather than sending customers to outdated or unavailable items. Positive for both us, and the customers.
4. Redirecting discontinued products without direct replacements
For items with no direct replacement, we moved them to the discontinued category, kept them live with zero stock, and used the soft redirect to point users to the main category instead. This allows customers to browse similar or alternative products.
This approach has also been successful. Customers are still finding these products via search engines, seeing the redirect message, and then navigating to the category where they often purchase related items. At the same time, these pages continue to appear in search results, meaning their existing “search value” is still benefiting the site.
Summary
The most effective approach for us has been to keep discontinued products live (but out of stock) and use soft redirects—either to direct replacements or to relevant categories. This preserves search visibility while still guiding customers toward available products. Still having the product live but out of stock on all the other products is giving us time to source replacements without loosing search engine visibility.