E-commerce SEO can be exceptionally challenging due to the sheer number of pages, and the potential for numerous faults and malfunctions is high. A major and common problem is encountering 404 errors due to product deletion or changes in URLs (modifying slugs, etc.).
I recall a time when I was analyzing a store experiencing a decline in traffic. One particular page had plummeted from several thousand visits to zero in a dramatically rapid manner. The culprit?
A redirect plugin was misdirecting users to a completely unrelated category, straying from the triggering keywords. Such mismatches are frowned upon by Google and often lead to penalties.
I’ve learned not to rely on ‘smart’ redirect plugins, as they often fall short of being truly effective.
Consequently, I developed my own script, which has delivered impressive results. Here’s how it functions:
- We conduct regular scheduled crawls.
- The system identifies 404 errors and logs them in our specialized Google Sheets template.
- It then searches for specific keywords within the URL to facilitate accurate redirection.
- The script, capable of handling hundreds of URLs while avoiding double redirects, is run.
- This generates a list of redirect commands, which are then incorporated en masse into the .htaccess file.
After closely monitoring the site’s impressions, we observed that the performance remained stable as all pages were successfully redirected to relevant pages within the same category.
Now, I’m offering access to this system, which includes the Google Sheets template and the App Script, for just $9.99.
Say goodbye to the hassle of 404 redirect issues with this streamlined solution.
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