What are the points need to consider while going for bulk content removal....

[venunath]

Hi All,

What happens when you have a case where an entire product category is removed? Or a manufacturer/distributor line where the manufacturer is no longer in business? Where do you redirect that to? The home page? Another category that might not be similar?

Is suggestible to use 301 redirection for bulk removal?

Please let me know your suggestions...

[Rosalind]

Don't 301 in bulk. If the content is gone, you should send a 410 or 404 response code. There's no reason you can't create a custom page that suggests better alternatives to these missing product categories.

[venunath]

I have submitted the /xyz/ folder in GWT for removal request and then i have re-directed the all pages including folder to customize 404 page via 301 re-direction.

Is this correct procedure? The way i have did is lead to which direction? Is this effect my keyword ranking and traffic?

[FranticFish]

If you 301 to your 404 page (i.e. you trap /my-old-page.xtn and forward to /my-404-page) then that is known as a 'soft 404'. They're not ideal - see [support.google.com...]

The preferable method is to serve a 410 / 404 header response at /my-old-page.xtn

[venunath]

Hi FranticFish,

Thanks for your reply and suggestion.

"Returning a code other than 404 or 410 for a non-existent page (or redirecting users to another page, such as the homepage, instead of returning a 404) can be problematic."