Handling 301s: Multiple pages to a single page (consolidation)

[JU1985]

Been scouring the interwebs and haven't found much information on redirecting two serparate pages to a single new page.  Here is what it boils down to:

Let's say a website has two pages, both with good page authority of products that are becoming fazed out.  The products, Widget A and Widget B, are still popular search terms, but they are being combined into ONE product, Widget C.  While Widget A and Widget B STILL have plenty to do with Widget C, Widget C is now the new page, the main focus page, and the page you want everyone to see and Google to recognize.

Now, do I 301 Widget A and Widget B pages to Widget C, ALTHOUGH Widgets A and B previously had nothing to do with one another?   (Remember, we want to try and keep some of that authority the two page have had.)

OR

do we keep Widget A and Widget B pages "alive", take them off the main navigation, and then put a "disclaimer" on the pages announcing they are now part of Widget C and link to Widget C?

OR

Should Widgets A and B page be canonicalized to Widget C?

Again, keep in mind, widgets A and B previously were not similar, but NOW they are and result in Widget C.

(If you are confused, we can provide a REAL work example of what we are talkinga about, but decided to not be specific to our industry for this.)

Appreciate any and all thoughts on this.

[SEODinosaur]

Good Question,

I would keep them live, if its not broken dont fix it. You can keep them live and add widget C to both pages.

Or

If you really want everything on page C. 301 both A & B to C and be sure to include the keywords your ranking for in your: title, H1, and body. If you do not do a 301 all the link juice will stay on the pages A and B.

[JU1985]

If we keep pages A and B alive, and canonicalize BOTH to page C - in addition to linking to page C from A and B, would this be the right thing to do?

Would page C then get the link juice?

I'm trying to please the user first, while still keeping best SEO practices in mind.

[SEODinosaur]

Canonicalization does not pass any link juice, only 301 redirect will let Google know to pass any of your external linking sites to your new URL. This is why I would stay away from Canonicalization in this case.

[ShaMenz]

Hi JU1985,

Good call from Donnie!

I would be keeping both pages live and adding a unique explanation to each page that lets them know that the product they searched for has been superseded by Widget C.

When deciding on the right solution for any issue like this, the first thing to consider is the effect your solution will have on the user. Ask yourself "If I search for Widget A and land on a page that offers Widget C, what will I think?".

The answer for me is that I will most likely assume the result is incorrect and return to the search engine looking for a better result. That is not the best user experience possible and therefore unlikely to provide the best conversion rate possible.

So for me, any solution that simply delivers the client to a different product without an explanation (301 or rel=canonical)  is least preferred.

The key to good business is good customer service - essentially being as helpful to your potential customer as possible. If a customer arrived at your offline store and said "I'm looking for Widget A", would you push them quickly across the store and say "here's Widget C"? Or would you explain that "Widget A has now been superseded by Widget C" and provide Widget C for them to look at?

The more you can emulate the offline store experience in your online store, the better the chance that the customer will feel comfortable buying from you.

Incidentally, I would make sure that the Widget C description added to the pages includes a Buy button and sufficient information that the customer can proceed to purchase without having to go to the Widget C page.

Hope that helps,

Sha

[kerplow]

Are you sure that canonicalization does not pass on link juice? My understanding has been that it does and our SEO vendor does as well. Reading from here and a few other places it appears it does (link below).

Just want to be sure my knowledge is current, any source you can provide would be helpful.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/an-seos-guide-to-http-status-codes

[StephanieChang]

Hi JU1985 - Yes, page C would get the link juice if you canonicalize pages A and B to page C. You should also make it very clear to your users that they should be using widget C.

The other option is to 301 redirect pages A and B to page C and implement a dynamically-generated message via cookie to let users know why they are being redirected. This would also enhance user experience.

[SEODinosaur]

Woops lol. Had no idea. Was always under the impression using a canonicalization tag was only used to prevent duplicate content issues. Thank you.