Mastering BigCommerce Discontinued Products: SEO, UX, and Best Practices

Managing products that are no longer available and won't be restocked is a common challenge for any e-commerce business. It's a delicate balance between maintaining valuable SEO equity, providing a seamless user experience, and keeping your store's catalog efficient and clean. A recent discussion in the BigCommerce community highlighted this very dilemma, offering practical advice for merchants facing this situation.

The Discontinued Product Dilemma: More Than Just Deletion

The original post by Georgia Evans articulated a problem many BigCommerce store owners encounter: what's the best approach for products and categories that are permanently out of stock? Key concerns included:

• SEO Impact: Will deleting these product pages harm existing search engine rankings and traffic that has been built over time?
• User Experience (UX): Products, though hidden from navigation, were still accessible via direct URL, displaying an irrelevant "wishlist" button, leading to customer frustration.
• Redirect Strategy: Should a 303 redirect be implemented, and if so, to where? (Spoiler: For permanent changes, a 301 is usually preferred over a 303).

Ignoring these questions can lead to a degraded user experience, wasted marketing efforts, and a potential drop in search engine visibility. Fortunately, BigCommerce offers robust tools to address these challenges strategically.

A Strategic BigCommerce Solution for Permanent Out-of-Stock Items

Daniel Olvera from Trepoly.com provided a thoughtful, multi-faceted solution that addresses both SEO preservation and user experience on the BigCommerce platform. His recommendations offer a robust alternative to immediate deletion or generic redirects:

1. Strategic Category Management: The "Discontinued" Category

The first and foundational step involves creating a dedicated, non-visible category, perhaps named "Discontinued" or "Archived Products." This serves as an organizational hub for all products that will not be restocked. Here's how to implement this on BigCommerce:

• Create the Category: Navigate to Products > Product Categories in your BigCommerce admin. Click "Create a Category."
• Name it Clearly: Use a name like "Discontinued" or "Legacy Items."
• Hide from Navigation: Crucially, under the "Visibility" settings, ensure it's set to "Not Visible in Menu." This keeps the products out of your primary navigation but still structured within your BigCommerce admin panel.
• Move Products: Systematically move all permanently out-of-stock products into this new category. This can be done individually or in bulk via CSV import/export if you're updating the category field.

By doing this, you ensure these products don't clutter your live catalog, but they remain structured for future reference or potential SEO value.

2. Enhancing User Experience via Page Builder or Theme Customization

Once products are moved, the next step is to optimize the individual product pages for users who might still land on them via direct URL or old bookmarks. This is where BigCommerce's flexibility shines:

• Remove Irrelevant Elements: The "Add to Wishlist" or "Add to Cart" buttons become frustrating when a product is unavailable. You can remove these elements.
• Display Clear Messaging: Inform the user that the product is discontinued. Provide context and guide them to alternatives.

How to Implement:

• BigCommerce Page Builder: For many modern Stencil themes, you can use the Page Builder (Storefront > Page Builder). You might add an HTML block or a custom widget to the product page template that displays a message and hides specific elements using CSS or JavaScript. For example, a simple HTML block could state:

  This product has been discontinued and is no longer available.

  Please explore our latest collections or similar items.

• Stencil Theme Customization: For more robust, theme-integrated changes, you might need to edit your Stencil theme files (e.g., product.html or relevant partials). This usually requires developer expertise or comfort with theme code. You can use conditional logic to check if a product belongs to the "Discontinued" category and then modify the page's output accordingly.

The goal is to turn a dead end into a helpful redirection, preserving customer goodwill.

3. SEO Preservation and Strategic Redirects

Keeping the product pages hidden from navigation but still accessible via their URL can be good for SEO purposes initially. Search engines will continue to see these pages, and any backlinks they've accumulated will still point to your site. However, this isn't a permanent solution.

• Monitor Traffic: Use Google Analytics and BigCommerce Analytics to monitor traffic to these discontinued product pages. If traffic dwindles to negligible levels, it's a sign they're losing SEO value.
• The 301 Redirect: For permanent moves, a 301 redirect is the industry standard (not a 303, which signifies a temporary redirect). A 301 tells search engines that the page has permanently moved and passes most of its link equity (SEO value) to the new destination.
• Where to Redirect?
  • Most Relevant Category: Redirect to the category that best represents the type of product.
  • Similar Product: If you have a direct replacement or a very similar item, redirect there.
  • Brand Page: If it's a specific brand, redirect to the brand's main page on your site.
  • Homepage (Last Resort): Only redirect to the homepage if no other relevant destination exists, as this dilutes the SEO value most significantly.
• Implementing 301 Redirects in BigCommerce: Go to Storefront > URL Redirects. You can set up both automatic and manual redirects. For individual discontinued products, manual 301 redirects are best.
• 404/410 Status Codes: If a product truly has no relevance and you want it completely removed from search engine indexes, you can allow it to return a 404 (Not Found) or 410 (Gone) status. However, this should be done cautiously, especially for pages with existing backlinks.

4. Internal Search Management

You want to make sure these discontinued product pages do not appear in your internal site search results. This prevents customers from finding items they can't buy and keeps your search results clean and relevant for in-stock products.

• BigCommerce Product Settings: For each product, you can set its visibility. Ensure that products in your "Discontinued" category are marked as "Not Searchable" if that option is available or if your theme supports it.
• Custom Search Solutions: If you use a third-party search app (e.g., Klevu, Searchspring), configure it to exclude products from the "Discontinued" category or those with specific custom fields indicating their status.

By following these steps, you create a robust system for managing discontinued products that respects your SEO efforts, enhances customer satisfaction, and maintains a clean, efficient BigCommerce store.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Considerations for BigCommerce Merchants

• Bulk Updates via API: For stores with hundreds or thousands of discontinued products, manually updating each one is impractical. Leverage the BigCommerce API to programmatically update product categories, descriptions, or custom fields that can trigger UI changes or redirect rules.
• Scheduled Cleanup: Periodically review your "Discontinued" category. Products that have received no traffic for an extended period (e.g., 12-18 months) and have no significant backlinks might be candidates for deletion or 410 status codes to truly de-index them.
• Customer Communication: Consider proactive communication for highly popular discontinued items. An email to customers who previously purchased the item, suggesting alternatives, can turn potential disappointment into a positive brand interaction.

Navigating the lifecycle of your products, especially when they reach their end, requires a thoughtful, strategic approach. By leveraging BigCommerce's powerful features and adhering to SEO and UX best practices, you can turn a potential challenge into an opportunity to strengthen your brand and customer loyalty.

As e-commerce migration experts at Big Migration, we understand the complexities of managing product catalogs and ensuring a seamless transition and ongoing optimization for your BigCommerce store. Whether you're refining your current store or planning a migration, our expertise ensures your strategy is sound and your implementation flawless.