The Complete Guide to Redirecting Deleted Pages: 301, 404, or 410?

Website cleanups, product sunsets, site migrations, and expired content happen. It’s inevitable. But when they do, they often leave a messy trail of broken links behind. One day, your sitemap is pristine; the next, you’re staring down a sea of 404s and wondering, “Should I redirect all of these, or is it OK to let them go?” 

Our default best practice has leaned toward 301 redirecting everything, but even we know that blanket rules don’t always make sense. Especially not when Google itself recommends a more nuanced approach. So let’s settle the debate: When should you 301 redirect, and when is it actually better to return a 404 or 410? 

Let’s dive into the real-world SEO, user experience, and technical implications of each option. Plus, we’ll show you how to set up a redirect or status code change. 

Redirects aren’t just about avoiding error messages. They’re about: 

• Preserving SEO equity from valuable links. 

• Improving the user experience by helping visitors find what they need. 

• Preventing Googlebot confusion that can slow down crawling and indexing. 

But if you mismanage redirects (or overuse them), you can: 

• Dilute your SEO performance. 

• Create “soft 404s” (more on that in a bit). 

• Confuse users and search engines. 

Translation: Redirects are powerful, but with great power comes great responsibility. 

How redirects and 404s affect crawl budget 

Google assigns each site a crawl budget (essentially, how many pages it will crawl within a given period). 

If your site has thousands of broken links, unnecessary redirects, or long redirect chains, it can waste crawl resources and delay the indexing of important content. 

To monitor crawl behavior, head to Google Search Console → Settings → Crawl Stats. Look for spikes in 404s, redirect loops, or failed fetch attempts. 

Keeping your redirect logic clean helps maximize how often your important pages get crawled and ranked. 

Before we get tactical, let’s level-set on what each HTTP status code does. 

Spoiler alert: All three have their place. But using them incorrectly can be costly. 

Use a 301 redirect when: 

• The page has a close replacement.
  Example: Product A is discontinued, but Product B is similar in specs or appeal.

• You’ve merged or updated pages.
  Example: You combined several blog posts into one comprehensive guide.

• You’re restructuring your site.
  Example: You changed your URL structure or rebranded a section of your site.

• You’re retiring a product but keeping the category.
  Redirect to the most relevant category page so users aren’t left hanging. 

301s preserve most (if not all) of the link equity from the original page, which means you maintain authority, rankings, and referral traffic. 

But here’s a heads up: Don’t redirect to something irrelevant just for the sake of avoiding a 404. That’s how you create a “soft 404,” which is just as bad (sometimes worse) in Google’s eyes. 

While 301s are for permanent changes, temporary redirects also exist. 

• 302: Originally used for temporary moves (still widely used). 

• 307: HTTP/1.1-compliant temporary redirect. 

These are useful for: 

• A/B-testing variations. 

• Seasonal promotions or time-limited campaigns. 

• Redirects where the original URL will return soon. 

But when a page is permanently gone (like a removed product), you shouldn’t use a 302 or 307. They tell search engines to keep the original URL in the index, which can cause confusion or wasted crawl resources. 

Sometimes, redirecting isn’t the best move, especially when dealing with duplicate or near-duplicate content. In these cases, a rel=“canonical” tag tells search engines which version to index. 

Ideal use cases include: 

• Product pages with minor variations (color, size). 

• Syndicated content appearing on partner sites. 

• Archived pages that are still useful but shouldn’t compete in search. 

Use canonicals when you want to consolidate authority without losing access to the original page. Redirect when you’re permanently removing or replacing the page. 

Don’t redirect if: 

• There’s no relevant replacement for the removed page. 

• The old content no longer aligns with your business or offerings. 

• You want the page cleanly removed from Google’s index. 

Use a 404 when: 

You want to indicate that a page no longer exists, but you’re not in a rush to de-index it. Google handles 404s gracefully and expects to see them. 

Use a 410 when: 

You want to quickly, decisively, and permanently tell search engines, “This page is gone-gone, so don’t waste your time crawling it anymore.” 

For example, let’s say you sold custom fidget spinners, but that product line has been fully retired with nothing remotely similar in stock. 

• Don’t redirect to the homepage or a generic product page. 

• Return a 404 or 410. If you use a 404, let your custom 404 page help users find something new that they might actually like. 

You might also need to use a 410 if you remove content from your website for legal or reputational reasons, such as GDPR or CCPA removals or content takedown requests due to legal disputes. 

Pro tip: Use a helpful custom 404 page with internal links, a search bar, or product categories. The link might be a dead end, but it doesn’t have to feel like one. 

Some SEO teams still operate with the mantra “just redirect it somewhere, anywhere!” While this comes from a good place (preserving traffic), here’s why it can hurt more than help: 

Problem 1: Redirecting to irrelevant pages 

Google might treat these as soft 404s. They appear functional but provide no value to users, so Google might still deindex them. 

What is a soft 404? 

A soft 404 happens when a page appears to load normally (returns a 200 OK status or a redirect), but Google determines that the content is unhelpful, irrelevant, or missing (essentially, a dead end with no value). 

Common causes include: 

• Redirecting to a barely related product or a thin category page. 

• Serving a blank or placeholder page with no content. 

• Returning a “no results” message with no alternatives. 

You can identify soft 404s in Google Search Console under Pages → Not indexed → Soft 404. Clicking into the examples helps you spot patterns and fix them by: 

• Improving or removing thin content. 

• Redirecting to truly relevant alternatives. 

• Properly returning a 404 or 410 instead of a misleading 200/301. 

Problem 2: Redirect chains 

Redirecting from Page A → Page B → Page C slows things down and dilutes SEO juice. Keep redirects clean and direct. 

Problem 3: Misleading UX 

If a user clicks a link to a specific product and lands on a homepage or an unrelated item, they’re going to be confused. They’ll probably bounce. That hurts engagement metrics and maybe even conversions. 

Here’s a quick reference for setting up redirects and status codes properly on your site, depending on your stack: 

Apache (.htaccess) 

# 301 Redirect
Redirect 301 /old-url /new-url

# 410 Gone
Redirect gone /retired-url
  

Nginx 

location = /old-url {
    return 301 /new-url;
}

location = /gone-url {
    return 410;
}
  

WordPress (with a plugin like RankMath or Redirection) 

1. Go to the plugin dashboard. 
2. Enter the old URL and the destination URL. 
3. Select “301 Permanent Redirect” from the type menu. 

PHP (last resort) 

// 301
header(“Location: /new-url”, true, 301);
exit;

// 410
header(“HTTP/1.1 410 Gone”);
exit; 

Relative vs. absolute redirects 

When writing redirect rules, it’s best to use: 

• A relative path for the source URL (e.g., /old-page). 

• An absolute URL for the destination (e.g., https://example.com/new-page). 

This combo: 

• Makes your rules portable across environments (dev, staging, live). 

• Eliminates ambiguity for crawlers and browsers. 

• Simplifies multidomain redirects and migrations. 

1. Audit your 404s. 

Use Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, or your site analytics to identify broken pages. 

2. Categorize each removed page. 

Ask, “Does this have a relevant replacement? Is it worth redirecting?” 

3. Redirect intelligently. 

• Redirect to a close match → 301 

• No match → 404 

• Permanently removed and you want quick cleanup → 410 

4. Avoid redirecting to your homepage. 

Unless it truly makes sense. (Spoiler: It almost never does.) 

5. Monitor results. 

Watch for crawl errors, redirect loops, and ranking drops after implementation. 

Redirects aren’t just technical tweaks; they’re user experience decisions that affect SEO, conversions, and brand trust. 

So instead of following a blanket rule like “301 everything” or “just let it 404,” take a moment to think: 

• What’s best for the user? 

• What’s best for Google’s understanding of my site? 

6. Don’t forget about analytics and attribution. 

Redirects can impact how sessions and conversions are attributed in GA4 or other analytics platforms. To avoid data loss: 

• Always check to see whether redirects strip UTM parameters or referral data. 

• Use consistent URL structures to preserve tracking. 

• Set up custom reports to monitor traffic before and after redirection. 

Even a small change (like dropping a query string) can misattribute sessions and skew your reports. 

How to manage redirects at scale 

If you’re dealing with hundreds (or thousands) of outdated URLs, you’ll need more than manual edits. Try this workflow: 

• Export all broken URLs from Google Search Console or Screaming Frog. 

• Categorize. Relevant? Redirect. Irrelevant? 404/410. 

• Create a redirect map in a spreadsheet with source and destination URLs. 

• Use server-level rules or CMS plugins that support bulk imports (like .htaccess or Redirection plugin for WordPress). 

• Monitor with log files to catch redirect chains or errors post-deployment.