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How Should You Handle Expired Content?

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 01:46 PM PDT

Posted by Stephanie Chang

Introduction

Handling expired content can be an overwhelming experience for any SEO in charge of a dynamic website, whether it be an e-commerce, a classified (example: job search, real estate listings), or a seasonal/promotional (example: New York Fashion Week) site. Even something as fundamental as glancing at the Google Webmaster Tools account for the site can evoke gut-wrenching emotions, especially if the site has amassed tens of thousands of 404 errors. How are you supposed to come up with a process to manage this? What should the process even look like?

What Qualifies as Expired Content?

There are a number of examples that would be considered "expired" content. Expired content is content on a website that is only relevant for a limited period of time. Below are examples of different scenarios that would need to be considered expired content.

Job Search/Real Estate Listings: Job listings routinely expire, especially when positions become filled. The same is true for real estate when property is sold.

What is the best way to handle expired listings, especially if the content is only available for a very limited amount of time?

E-commerce: Expired products can occur when products that are sold on the site routinely change for one reason or another, such as:

What happens when the site no longer sells a product?
What happens if the product becomes temporarily out-of-stock?
What about seasonal products that are only sold during limited times of the year?

Perhaps most importantly, sites that have to worry about expired content tend to be enormous - often comprised of hundreds of thousands of pages. Thus, recommendations need to be manageable and clear. Taking an individual look at all expired and out-of-stock products is unrealistic. Start thinking, is there a way we can build a process for these type of changes?

The Options

Like most SEO solutions, there isn't necessarily one right answer. We need to take a look at each individual situation on a case-by-case basis and take into consideration the current back-end of the site, as well as the resources and the technological capabilities of the site's team. There is a time and a place to use each of these options for expired content. Identifying the right scenario for each situation is very powerful.

I. The 404 Error

It makes sense for webmasters to think that 404ing expired content on the site is the approach to take. After all, isn't that the very definition of a 404 page?

(Distilled's 404 Page)

In most situations, a page on the site should not be 404ed. Why?

Disadvantages of 404 pages

404ing pages that used to be live on the site is just not beneficial for SEO because it alerts search engines that there are errors on the site. Essentially, you're wasting the site's crawl allowance on crawling/indexing pages that no longer exist.

Also another issue with 404 pages is that they tend to bounce - users land on the page, see that the page no longer exists, and quickly leave. Users are vital to the site and our goal as SEOs is to not only ensure that the site gains organic traffic, but that the users stay, browse through the site, and ultimately, convert.

Custom 404 Page

If you must 404 pages for one reason or another, consider creating a custom 404 page, so that in the chance that a visitor lands on the page, there is an opportunity for them to convert. A custom 404 page can also include keyword-rich links to other pages on the site (for instance: see Crate and Barrel's 404 page).

Determining the Right Approach for Expired Content

Now that we know the disadvantages of 404ing pages, what is the right approach in dealing with expired content? To determine this, multiple considerations need to be taken into account, such as:

Was there significant traffic (and not just organic, but also consider direct) coming to this page?
How can we provide the best user experience?
Has this page received external links? How is this page currently internally linked to?
Is there content/resources on the page that users would still find useful?

II. The 301 Permanent Redirect

Advantages of 301 Redirects

For the vast majority of scenarios, I'd suggest 301 redirecting your expired content to another page. This is usually the best option for SEO and can also be customized to enhance the user experience via dynamically-generated messages. For instance, if a product page had garnered external links, you're able to retain most of the link equity from those links via a 301 redirect (whereas with a 404, that link equity is lost). Why would you want to lose the link equity that you had worked so hard to obtain? Furthermore, it demonstrates to search engines that your site is well-maintained and up-to-date or "fresh".

(screenshot of infographic from Dr. Pete's epic status code post)

Where should you 301 redirect these pages?

Consider what would result in the best user experience. You want to redirect these pages to the most relevant page. A suggestion is to take a look at the breadcrumbs and redirect the page based on the internal navigation of the site. For instance, the product page can be redirected to the most relevant sub-category page. You want to be careful that you're redirecting the page to another page that is likely to stay on the site in the foreseeable future, otherwise you run the risk of having to deal with this issue again (not to mention that having a 301 redirect lead to another 301 redirect to another 301 redirect is not considered good SEO practice). A safe bet is to redirect these pages to the most relevant category page, as these are pages on the site that are least likely to change.

Dynamically-Generated Messages

You can customize and improve the user experience by implementing a dynamically-generated message via cookies during a 301 redirect. This would result in users who have landed on expired products receiving a message letting them know that the original product they were seeking is no longer available. This enhances the user experience because it informs users on why they are being redirected.

Disadvantages of 301 Redirects

For some sites, implementing multiple 301 redirects might affect server performance (though for a well-designed site, this should not be an issue). However, if it is true for your site, knowing that site speed is a search engine ranking factor, we want to be wary of the impact we may have by implementing this strategy. If this is the case for your site, consider only 301 redirecting the pages that have gained external links or have received significant amounts of traffic and directing the remaining pages to a customized 404 page. Please bear in mind that this is not an ideal scenario and is just a workaround.

III. Leave the Page on the Site

Advantages of Leaving the Page As Is

Sometimes product pages still garner significant amounts of traffic or are rich in unique content and contain information that is still useful to visitors. It would be worth leaving the original product there, especially if the page has unique, high-quality, evergreen content, but have a message that the product has been discontinued. This will likely provide the best user experience as it will provide a strong call-to-action.

How Could You Set Up the Message?

Implement a JS overlay that would include similar products as the one that has been discontinued and drive users to those new products. Consider incorporating keyword-targeted internal links to drive traffic to those sites. This provides a positive user experience and is especially important for repeat customers.

Example: Real Estate

For this niche, expired listings bring tons of traffic since people are curious about what has been sold and what the market looks like. Thus, consider leaving these pages on the site, but include additional information on the top of the page, such as "contact us to see similar listings" or "here are some other houses in the area that have similar selling prices."

Disadvantages of Leaving the Page As Is

You want to be wary of the practice of leaving old pages, especially if they aren't enhancing the value of the site. Why? Because this will require more bandwidth from search engine bots to crawl your site as you continue to add new product pages to the site. You don't want to risk wasting your crawl allowance having bots crawl pages that are thin in unique content and value. Also, having search engines crawl such pages indicates to them that the site is not "fresh."

Also often times, new products contain the same content as an older variation of the product. For instance, the names of new products may vary only slightly to their previous version and the product description can be a close duplicate. Having all these pages live on the site can result in massive duplicate content issues.

How to Deal with Out-of-Stock Products

If a product is out-of-stock and is expected to be restocked, the page should remain on the site, but an out-of-stock notice should be implemented on the page. However, please bear in mind that out-of-stock pages do tend to generate high bounce rates. To confront high bounce rates issues and improve the overall user experience, consider ensuring that users know similar products are still sold on the site or have users sign-up to be notified when the product becomes available again.

How to Deal with Seasonal Products - at the Category/Sub-Category Level

If a product is seasonal, such as the case for fashion products (example: swimsuits), you might want to leave the page on the site permanently. Why? Because overtime, these pages can retain their link equity year-after-year. If the swimsuit page garnered 3 links this year and 5 links the next, you can continue to accumulate those links. Overtime, you've developed a page that has retained a significant amount of link equity making it much more difficult for competitors to keep up. Thus, giving your site a huge advantage.

And if you don't want the page to be indexed in the off-season, add a meta tag to noindex/follow the page. Users will no longer be able to get to that link from search results (and hopefully from internal results as well), but only through direct links or bookmarks. Once the season starts again, remove the noindex/follow meta tag to an index/follow.

Building Processes/Checklists

Based on the specific needs of your site, it would be helpful to develop a checklist for your technical team. For example, if my site had seasonal products, I would compile a checklist that would include the following:

Remove noindex/follow tag from the [products] page in [month]
Update and resubmit XML site map
Submit this page to "Fetch as Googlebot" in Google Webmaster Tools

Consider creating separate checklists for the steps that you, as an SEO, would need to take to determine which pages to 301 redirect, which ones you need to 404 (if you absolutely need to), and which ones to leave as is. Checklists should also be created to help develop the framework for how your technical team would implement these changes. After awhile, an overall framework should emerge on how your site handles its expired content, which will help make the entire process run much more smoothly.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

One Year of Joining Forces

Your Daily Snapshot for
Thursday, April 12, 2012

One Year of Joining Forces

Celebrating the one year anniversary of Joining Forces, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden honored service men and women and their families yesterday on the South Lawn. Mrs. Obama challenged all Americans to continually find new ways to show their support for military families. To the troops she echoed the sentiments of the American people, saying "you do live in a grateful nation."

Watch this video celebrating the one year anniversary of Joining Forces:

Seth's Blog : The end of the diva paradox

The end of the diva paradox

Great surgeons don't need to be respectful or have a talented, kind or alert front desk staff. They're great at the surgery part, and you're not here for the service, you're here to get well (if you believe that the surgery part is what matters). In fact, gruffness might be a clue to their skill for some.

Great opera singers don't have to be reasonable or kind. They sing like no one else, that's why you hired them, and why they get to (are expected to) act like divas. Get over it.

So the thinking goes.

The traditional scarcity model implied some sort of inverse relationship between service and quality. Not for service businesses like hotels, of course, but for the other stuff. If someone was truly gifted, of course they didn't have the time or focus to also be kind or reasonable or good at understanding your needs. A diva was great partly because, we decided, she was a jerk.

I think that's changing, possibly forever, for a bunch of reasons:

The state of the art is now easier to find. Word spreads about behavior and service faster than ever. As a result, customers quickly become aware of what a raw deal they're getting from this supposedly gifted individual.
It's so much easier to deliver better service (Dr. Diva, please send me an email if you're running late!) that we're far less forgiving.
Since just about any intelligent and caring person can use technology and a bit of humility to deliver better service (see above), we start to wonder whether that diva provider actually is intelligent and caring. And if he isn't, it doesn't really matter if he has some sort of skill, because uncaring hands are worth avoiding.
With fewer great gigs available (even in opera), it's not so easy act like a jerk (or be insulated and uncaring) and still get work.

• Email to a friend •

miercuri, 11 aprilie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Rats on Sinking Ship Scramble for Last Exit; Get While the Gettin' is Still Possible
Understanding Gasoline Sales "By Refiners"
Deja Vue All Over Again; ECB Says Bond Buying Program Available; Sweet Talkin' Guys
Slow Road to Hell: Spain Entertains VAT Hike

Rats on Sinking Ship Scramble for Last Exit; Get While the Gettin' is Still Possible

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 10:28 PM PDT

Like rats on a sinking ship, the Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos seeks his exit before the total and complete destruction of Greece.

If you prefer a different analogy, like Pontius Pilate, prime minister Papademos washes his hands of this sordid affair.

The New York Times reports Snap Elections for Greek Parliament Are Set for Early May

Greece's interim prime minister, Lucas Papademos, called for snap elections on Wednesday, opening the way for a contest that promises to be the most fiercely fought in decades but which might not yield a definitive result, potentially putting the debt-racked country's international bailout plan in jeopardy.

In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night, Mr. Papademos said he had gained the approval of President Karolos Papoulias to dissolve Parliament and go to elections on May 6.

"The current government has completed the key task that it was assigned," he said. "A new government, with a fresh popular mandate, will be tasked with continuing the effort to reconstruct the economy."

Public anger has been swelling against the politicians who approved austerity measures and are perceived as having created the dysfunctional state that created the conditions for the debt crisis.

Opinion polls show that the two parties in the interim government have lost major support. A poll conducted by the firm Public Issue for Skai television and the Kathimerini daily newspaper showed the conservative New Democracy party holding on to its lead with 19 percent and the Socialists edging up to 14.5 percent. The Coalition of the Radical Left (known as Syriza) would garner 13 percent in elections, the survey showed, with the more moderate Democratic Left winning 12 percent and the Communist Party 11 percent.

A new center-right party called Independent Greeks, which opposes the government's austerity drive, is shown to be polling at 11 percent.

Some smaller parties were teetering on the 3 percent threshold for entering Parliament, given the survey's margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The poll, conducted by telephone, surveyed 1,226 people nationwide from April 3 to 9.

Some expect that the elections will produce a hung Parliament and require a second round of voting.

This is not a case of "get while the gettin' is good" but rather "get while the gettin' is still possible at all.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Understanding Gasoline Sales "By Refiners"

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 11:27 AM PDT

Reader David sent in a link to an alarming looking chart of gasoline sales on the EIA's website U.S. Total Gasoline Retail Sales by Refiners (Thousand Gallons per Day)

David notes a stunning plunge from 41,972,600 to 28,433,900 (-31%) in the last four months.

click on chart for sharper image

I asked Tim Wallace what to make of this. Wallace writes ...

Hello Mish

I queried the EIA and as I expected the key to understanding the chart is the statement the chart shows retail sales by refiners. I have been closely following the divestiture of the retail outlets by the majors such as Exxon and BP over the past couple of years, accelerating now because there is NO MONEY in retail, just in exploration and distribution - basically through the wholesale level.

Therefore the sales by the refiners at the retail level is of course rapidly plummeting.

It's an interesting measure which has no validity whatsoever on total usage/demand.

Regards,

Tim

Correctly Depicting the Plunge

Gasoline sales have indeed plunged in a shocking manner, just not as shocking as it appears in the above chart.

Please consider my April 6 post Another Plunge in 3-Month Rolling Average of Petroleum and Gasoline Usage for Jan, Feb, March 2012

The above chart shows total petroleum and gasoline usage for Jan-Feb-March 2012 usage vs. the same three months in prior years. That method is the correct way of understanding gasoline usage.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Deja Vue All Over Again; ECB Says Bond Buying Program Available; Sweet Talkin' Guys

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 09:21 AM PDT

ECB Says Bond-Buying Program Available

The ECB went from loading up on sovereign debt and making a huge mess of it when Greece defaulted, to the LTRO program which has not made a big mess yet but will. Things are about to go full-circle as the ECB threatens once again to make another mess of things with sovereign bond purchases.

The Bundesbank, Germany's central bank protested bond purchases the last time (correctly), and will do so again, likely to no avail, and with the same predictable results.

CNBC reports ECB Official Says Bond-Buying Program Available

ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure, the ECB board member in charge of market operations, said the central bank still had the Securities Market program (SMP) in place allowing it to purchase debt of euro zone nations, should the need arise.

"We are seeing today growing signs of normalization on a whole group of market segments ... but the situation in recent days shows that this normalization remains fragile," Coeure told a conference in Paris.

Referring to Spain, where sovereign debt yields have spiked amid concerns over the government's ability to cut its deficit, Coeure said: "The political will is there, which makes me think that what is happening at the moment in the market does not reflect the fundamentals."

"There is no reason why the situation does not normalize in Spain as well."

"We have an instrument for intervention, the SMP, which has not been used recently but which exists."

His comments appeared to open the door to the ECB reactivating its bond-buying program — a policy option which would meet strong resistance from the Bundesbank and other ECB policymakers from the euro zone's healthier "core" economies.

Preposterous Statements

It's difficult to tell if Benoit Coeure is a liar or an idiot or some combination thereof, but the idea that "fundamentals" in Spain are good, and the idea that there are "growing signs of normalization" are both preposterous.

It has taken trillions of dollars of intervention to make things look stable, but stable they aren't. Yields in Italy and Spain rose substantially the moment the LTRO ended.

Spain now appears poised to make matters much worse for itself with a disastrous tax hikes. For details, please see Slow Road to Hell: Spain Entertains VAT Hike

Deja Vue All Over Again

Steen Jakobsen, chief economist as Saxo Bank in Denmark, borrows a phrase from baseball manager Yogi Berra and says it's a case of "Deja Vue all Over Again". Via email ...

It seems the long awaited pay-back to: extend-and-pretend policies has started. The problem list is forever increasing, but my ranking would be:

Spain: The government played an extremely bad hand of Poker and lost. First response to this crisis will be 'bad bank' rescue funded by EFSF most likely (but with tough conditions due to Spain bad behavior). The Spanish government has been playing hike-and-seek and is losing even Brussels support.

The 10-year bond yield closed around 6 pct yesterday after 4.5 pct less than two weeks ago. Please also see my piece from last week: The rain in Spain is mainly in the plains

French Election: Sarkozy has been bad news forever and looks to be even more bad news post April 22nd. His opponent is playing the 'Mitterand card' - replaying the Grand Times of France in Europe. Sarkozy is improving in the polls but still trails in the May 6th 2nd round by at least 10 percentage points.

Bad Economics: As indicated in our Q1 Outlook - Perfect Storm - the economic reality will and should ultimately catch up to bad policies.

Compounding macro mistakes not only crowds-out the micro economy but it also place false hope in voters and investors instead of a resolution for reforms. Europe is in free-fall economically and the six cylinder engine is down to only one or two working.

Asia: Data, mainly China leaves less than needed room for cuts and the general easy monetary policy which the market hopes for.

The new 'openness' brought forward by the outgoing elite is sign of weakness not strength. The internal dynamics is falling apart as housing bubble does its Third Act in China ( after First and Second Act in Europe and the US) - house prices and sales down 15-25 pct in latest surveys.

Lack of Policy Tools: The slower growth and falling markets have made market increase probabilities of more QE either sterilized or not. However ....

FOMC is split down the middle - more so than generally accepted by the liquidity junkies

The actual amount needed to make an impact is GIGANTIC – The FED have increased its balance sheet to in excess of 3 trillion US dollar, so to make a 'dent' they need to print/buy another 1 trillion - unrealistic! We will get more but only to keep the 'game going' and not enough to make an impact.

This means Bernanke and FED will try to sweet talk market into believing they can do more. Academic papers clearly show the initial talk of QE (before implementation) is 75 pc of the net effect!

What Remains is More of the Same

Under financed government funding

Undercapitalized banks

An economic situation which looks, feels and taste like 'Japanisation' with decades of printing, low growth, and no reforms

Lack of reforms - but more austerity (saving ourselves to prosperity)

If I was concerned in December 2011 then I am getting more scared now. Policy makers are left with nothing but to talk-and-pretend, and they will. However, time is running out and all we got coming is some more easy money, the exact reason we are here entering into the third or fifth wave down.

For the balance of this week the market is oversold and looking for more QE, but ultimately we risk that we are now repeating the trading patterns of 2010 and 2011 with tops now in place, the only difference being, everything has been tried before. As the quote goes: History repeats itself, historians repeat each other (Phillip Guedalla).

Time to bring the alertness to RED I am sorry to say.

Steen

Front-Running the Sweet Talk

75% of the benefit of QE comes before implementation because banks are tipped off in advance of the program before anyone else with details as to the size and scope of the Fed's operations.

The banks front-run the trade knowing what and when the Fed will buy, then start unloading when the Fed becomes the buyer of last resort.

At some point however, sweet talk and sweet actions will no longer work as I said yesterday in Lollipops and Tantrums; Is the Fed Promoting Recovery or Desperation? QE "Appears" to Works Until It's Obvious it Never Did

One Lollipop Too Many

One of these times, and I have to admit I expected it long ago, the market will not be satisfied with another lollipop. At that point, instead of cheering another lollipop, the market will throw up like a child who has eaten three donuts and five lollipops too many.

Sweet Talkin' Guys

For now, in honor of the Fed, the ECB, and the Central Bank of China, I offer you this tribute to Sweet Talkin' Guys.

Link if video does not play: The Chiffons - sweet talking guy

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Slow Road to Hell: Spain Entertains VAT Hike

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 11:39 PM PDT

Of all the inept policy moves in the midst of a clear depression, hiking taxes is right at the top of the list. Yet, that is the path Spain is on, because it will not meet its budget projections.

Here is a link to an amusing "as is" Google translation of an article on El Econimista whose headline reads "The Government will raise the VAT if they fail the current fiscal".

What caught my eye was the translation of the last sentence that reads "Therefore, it is possible that eventually have to raise this popular tax before the deadline."

I was laughing out loud at that sentence because taxes are never popular. To be sure, I did not precisely understand the correct context of that sentence.

My friend Bran who lives in Spain provides a better translation of the last sentence as follows:

Therefore it is not ruled out that the 'populares' (a common term used to denote the PP political party) would have to raise the VAT before planned.

That certainly makes more sense. However, the rest of the translation is suspect as well.

Self-Destruction Coming Up

Gonzalo Lira who lives in Chile, and with whom I have had (and still do) vehement disagreements regarding hyperinflation, graciously supplies the gist of the entire article in spite of those disagreements.

Lira writes ...

Hello Mish

The upshot of the piece is that if the tax amnesty doesn't work, Spain will somehow have to raise money to meet the Brussels-imposed deficit targets for 2012 and 2014.

However, the Spanish government is loathe to raise taxes, much less the VAT, because the government is aware of how counterproductive to the economy raising the VAT would be.

Tacitly, it sounds like they're worried about a popular backlash to raising the VAT, or any other tax. Nevertheless, Brussels is pushing for tax increases.

Carlos Floriano (PP spokesman and Vice Secretary) says that anything and everything will be done to meet the 5.3% deficit target this year, and the 3% target for 2013. Nonetheless, he's reiterating that raising taxes and VAT is not on the table.

According to the Ministro de Hacienda (eq. to Treasury Secretary), if the tax amnesty and the hard-core tax collection of "impuestos IRPF" (literally "income tax on physical people"—personal income tax) are not successful, then maybe other measures will be considered, including presumably raising the VAT.

The last paragraph says that Brussels doesn't think any of this stuff will work. The very last sentence is a colloquial expression. The essential idea is that if all else fails, Brussels will push Spain to implement a hike in the VAT sooner than expected.

From the tone of the article, the eurocrats in Brussels are the "Evil Empire". Thus, the article is an attempt to make the government look good, sensible, and trying to help the Spanish working man.

Frankly, reading the tea-leaves, it's as if the government and the reporter are setting up the eurocrats as the bogey man.

Slow Road to Hell

Lira had some choice but unprintable words to say about the "wisdom" of these tax hikes. I certainly agree.

The stupidity in Brussels is staggering. The one sure-fire way to destroy Spain, right here, right now, is to hike taxes.

Spain should see the writing on the wall and default now. If Spain doesn't, it will face a slow road to hell just as happened to Greece.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

joi, 12 aprilie 2012

What's your Buffett number?

How Should You Handle Expired Content?

How Should You Handle Expired Content?

Introduction

What Qualifies as Expired Content?