What impact will deleting old products have?

[annafjmorris]

Hi, I would like to tidy up my store by deleting old products, but I want to check first if there will be any negative impact - for example, will it mess with my statistics going back?

Thanks

Anna

[wakabayashi]

That's a really interesting question! I would also like to know the answer. I once had the feeling that statistics for best sales, doesn't work anymore. But it's long ago I looked at it.

[lesley]

Leave them and use the page to offer the new updated products.

[annafjmorris]

Yeah we've done that with products where it's a related or similar product, like a different weight or similar, but we've got some products which are totally unrelated and we wouldn't sell again. Wouldn't it confuse things a little bit? So say if we changed some old cat toy into a totally new product, won't that create statistics going back for a new product, effectively?

[DavidP]

@annafjmorris check your Google webmaster tools to ensure there's no external links to the page first, if there is and you do delete it then you'll need a 301 in your .htaccess. If you just disable it though you can set up a re-direct from the product page itself.

Also that page may be indexed for certain keywords so you don't want to just give those up, especially if they're bringing in traffic. Check your Google Analytics and Search Console to see what keywords are linked to the page. Also use Semrush if you've got it. It can be better to rework the page to keep the traffic if it's got a lot.

[annafjmorris]

Thanks, these pages are all long disabled (some for years now) so I am mostly concerned with the impact of deleting the page within thirty bees itself. Good advice for future product removals though!!