As a business owner, you may provide different services or products throughout the year. Depending on customer demand, product availability, supply chain issues, or other factors, you may offer certain services for a limited time or stop offering them altogether. When updating your website, this may seem as simple as deleting the page. This can create confusion for your customers, though, as this does not always remove the page from search results, or it can cause broken links and errors. Redirecting traffic to different pages or removing them from the index are two ways to avoid these issues. In this blog, we will discuss how to properly remove old service pages and how Boston Web Marketing can help with our professional SEO services.
Why Is It a Bad Idea to Delete Old Landing Pages?
Deleting old landing pages can negatively impact your website and business. If you plan on offering this service again in the future, you will no longer have the page, and it will need to be recreated from scratch. This can be time-consuming and may result in lost rankings and traffic to your website. Additionally, if you have any backlinks or internal links pointing to this page, they will now lead to a 404 error or broken link, which can negatively impact your website’s overall SEO performance.
Why Is My Page Still Appearing In Search Results After I Deleted It?
As mentioned above, deleting the page from your website does not guarantee that it will also be removed from search results. Google uses a complex algorithm and indexing system to determine which pages it displays in search results. Even if the page is no longer live on your website, it may still be indexed and appear in search results for certain queries. To take it down completely, you must follow proper steps to remove it from Google’s index.
How Can I Properly Remove Old Services Pages?
Rather than deleting old services pages, some of the better options include:
Setting Up a 301 Redirect
A 301 redirect allows you to permanently redirect traffic from an old page to a new one. When phasing out services, this can be a great option as it ensures that any traffic or backlinks going to the old page will still reach your website and be brought to the new page. This also helps prevent any negative impacts on your SEO.
Marking the Page as a Draft
Instead of deleting the page completely, you can also mark it as a draft so it is not visible to visitors on your website. This way, you can still access and make changes to the page if needed, but it will not be live for public viewing. If you choose to do this, you will still need to set up a 301 redirect since the page itself is no longer live.
Updating the Page with Relevant Content
If you would like to remove a service that you plan on offering again in the near future, you can also choose to keep the page and add updated information. This can include ‘coming soon’ dates or information about potential changes to the service. This way, the page will still be live and can attract traffic, but visitors will also have updated information about the service.
Removing the Page Through Google Search Console
If you want to remove the page from Google’s index completely, you can also use Google Search Console. By submitting a request for removal, Google will remove the page from its search results and stop indexing it. However, this does not guarantee that other search engines have also removed the page from their index, and you will need to follow their specific removal processes as well.
Contact Boston Web Marketing to Update Your Service Pages, Google Indexing, & Search Result Visibility
At Boston Web Marketing, our team of experts can help you manage and update your service pages, maintain proper indexing with search engines, and improve your website’s visibility on search engine results. Whether you are looking to take down outdated pages or optimize your content for better SEO, we have the knowledge and tools to help you achieve your goals. To learn more and request a free website audit, contact us online or call us at 857.526.0096!