Products go out of stock. Seasonally, permanently, or by accident. How you handle out-of-stock URLs affects SEO, user experience, and your ability to recover traffic when inventory returns. Most sites default to 404 or redirect, both are usually wrong.
Product is coming back. You know when or roughly when.
Do:
OutOfStockDon't: 404, 301, or remove the page. You want to recover rankings + traffic when it returns.
Product is gone, nothing takes its place.
Do:
Don't: redirect to homepage (soft 404) or to an unrelated product.
Old model replaced by new model (e.g., "Widget v2" replaces "Widget v1").
Do:
Product in stock but your specific variation isn't.
Do:
A 404 tells Google the page doesn't exist. Google drops it from the index. If the product returns a month later:
Soft 404 risk. If every discontinued product redirects to your homepage, Google notices the pattern and classifies these as soft 404s. Same result as plain 404 but with worse user experience.
301 redirects should go to relevant, replacement URLs, not generic destinations.
InStock, available immediatelyOutOfStock, temporarily unavailableLimitedAvailability, low stockPreOrder, not yet available, orders acceptedBackOrder, unavailable, will be fulfilled when restockedDiscontinued, permanently goneMatch reality.
"Enter your email, we'll let you know when this is back." Captures leads, keeps traffic.
Don't bury the "similar products" section. Out-of-stock page → direct to what's available → conversion saved.
"Checked: April 18, 2026, expected back in stock early May." Sets expectations.
Grey out unavailable options but show them, users know the product exists in their size/color and can request notifications.
Halloween decorations, summer pool floats, seasonal products that disappear for months each year. Treat like temporarily out-of-stock; don't 404 or redirect. Keep URLs, content, and authority.