How To Handle Expired Pages and Prevent SEO Downfalls

Does your site have expired landing pages? Landing pages expire all the time – if outdated information becomes irrelevant, a site goes unmaintained, products sell out, or specific services are discontinued. Not surprisingly, the SEO algorithms do not favor poorly maintained, outdated, or expired pages. Further, if an otherwise healthy site has expired landing pages within it, the expired content can harm the site’s overall rankings.

A misconception prevails too often among digital marketers: even if a site expires, its previous page rank will be preserved. On the contrary, when a page expires but is still linkable through the site’s architecture, it generates an unloadable, dead page, which cannot engage users, convert them, or engage them – all of which act as a significant blow to a site’s overall organic ranking. On a more obvious level, an expired page is bad for a site’s user experience and conveys a lack of professionalism or reliability. 

If a page is ready to be retired for any reason, it is better to proactively create a “404 Not Found” status code and eliminate any active links to the expired page. If you’re an eCommerce business or have a series of product pages that require maintenance, partner with ASTRALCOM. We build high-performing landing pages for businesses across sectors, along with strategic marketing to fuel long-term success.