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How do you fix links to pages that no longer exist?
The short answer
When a page is removed or its address changes, send the old address to the closest matching live page with a 301 redirect, and fix links on your own pages that lead nowhere. Otherwise visitors hit a dead end, and the value of links other websites give you is wasted. It is one of the quickest wins in SEO, and most platforms do it in a few clicks.
What is a 301 redirect?
A 301 redirect is a permanent forward from an old address to a new one. Visitors land on the new page without noticing, and Google moves the old address's standing to the new one. Without it, anyone who follows an old link, or a Google result that still shows it, gets an error page.
Use it when an address changes (after a redesign, for example), or when a page is removed but another page covers the same thing.
What should happen when a page is removed?
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| A matching page exists | 301 redirect the old address to it |
| A product is gone but its category lives on | 301 redirect to the category page |
| Nothing similar exists | Let the address show a helpful "not found" page. Do not redirect to the home page, as Google treats that as a soft error and it confuses visitors. |
Always redirect to an equivalent live page, never to an unrelated one.
Which dead pages should I fix first?
- Pages other websites link to. Each of those links is worth something, and a redirect keeps it.
- Pages Google still ranks. People are still clicking them, and landing on an error.
- Broken links inside your own site. Each link is a path for visitors and for Google. A dead end loses the visitor, and too many make a site look neglected. Edit the link to point to the right page, or remove it.
Your weekly report lists these pages with the best matching page for each, so you can copy the pairs into your redirect settings.
How do I set up a redirect?
On most platforms (Shopify, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace) there is a "Redirects" or "URL redirects" setting where you enter the old address and the new one. On WordPress, a redirect plugin does the same. If you run your own server, ask your developer to add 301 rules. Then open the old address yourself to check that it lands on the new page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I redirect everything to my home page?
It is better not to. Google treats mass redirects to the home page like errors, and visitors lose what they were looking for. Redirect to the closest matching page.
How long should a redirect stay?
Keep it for as long as people or other sites might use the old address, which in practice means leave it in place for good.
Refresh pages that are losing visitors
How to reach the top 3 in Google