NEWS

SEO and Temporarily Out-of-Stock Product Pages via @sejournal, @martinibuster

Published

3 years ago

October 29, 2021

Google’s John Mueller answered an Office-hours hangout question about what to do about web pages for products that are temporarily out of stock. The person asking the question wanted to know how to balance concerns about SEO with the user experience of users who may not like a page with out of stock products.

Temporarily Out of Stock Products and Poor User Experience

Many merchants are suffering from supply chain issues and are having difficulty keeping products in stock. Showing site visitors a web page full of products that are temporarily out of stock is a bad user experience.

People may leave that site and never return.

Google’s John Mueller Offers SEO-Friendly Solution for Out of Stock Pages

Screenshot of Google's John Mueller discussing the SEO issue of temporarily out of stock products

Will Removing Out of Stock Pages Hurt SEO?

The person asking the question was concerned that removing the pages of temporarily out of stock items might harm the ability of those pages to rank once they’re back in stock.

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John Mueller explains how Google ranks out of stock product pages that are temporarily removed and subsequently restored when they’re back in stock.

He also suggested different ways to handle the web pages of products that are temporarily out of stock.

How to Balance the User Experience and SEO?

The SEO for the ecommerce site asked the following question:

“My client is having a rather unique issue that is relevant to the times.

Ordinarily I would recommend that if a product is out of season or out of stock that they keep the URL live and put a note to the user as to when the product will be available.

With supply chain shortages this company is experiencing an inordinate amount of temporarily out of stock products and this creates a negative user experience.

They want to take all the URLs offline so that the customers stop complaining about the number of out of stock items on the ecommerce site.

However this means their URLs and SEO is impacted.

How do we balance the user experience with SEO? “

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Four Ways to Handle Out of Stock Products Online for SEO

John Mueller offered four tips on how to handle the problem of web pages for products that are out of stock in a way that won’t impact the user experience and will be SEO-optimized for Google as well.

1. Leave the Product Pages Up

Mueller suggested leaving the product pages up but to use Schema.org structured data to tell Google that the products are out of stock and when it’s back in stock to update the structured data accordingly.

This answer is useful for when the temporarily out of stock item is known to be back in stock relatively soon.

John Mueller advised:

“I think this is always a bit challenging, specifically around out of stock and temporarily out of stock content.

It is something where what works best for us is if we can keep the URL online for things that are really temporary, in the sense that if the URL remains indexable and with structured data you tell us this product is currently not available.

Then we can at lest kind of like keep this URL in our index and keep refreshing it regularly to pick up that change in availability as quickly as possible.”

2. Noindex the Page and/or Un-link It

The next approach is to add the noindex meta tag to the web pages with out of stock content and/or remove all links to the pages.

Mueller explained how to do it:

“However, if you decide to noindex these pages or if you decide to just remove the internal linking to these pages, then when that state changes back, we should try to pick that up fairly quickly as well.

And we try to understand these state changes through things like site maps and internal links.

So especially if you add a product back and then suddenly it has internal links again, that helps us to pick that up again.”

3. How to Speed Up Indexing of Newly In-stock Product Pages

Mueller next offered a suggestion of how to speed up indexing of pages that were noindexed and/or removed from all links.

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He shared this tip:

“You can speed this up a little bit by being a bit deliberate with your internal linking.

So in particular, …when things are linked from the home page, we think that they’re a little bit more important and we go off and try them out fairly quickly.

If you add those products back and if you add a link to your home page saying, oh these things are not in stock again, then we can take that and say, oh this seems to be an important thing.

We will double check these pages a bit quicker.

And we’ll see if they’re actually now in stock or not.

So that’s kind of the direction I would go there.”

4. Hedge Your SEO With Google Merchant Center

Mueller next suggested using Google’s Merchant Center to tell Google about in-stock and out-of-stock products plus get free exposure in the following Google Search surfaces:

Shopping tab
Google Search
Google Images
Google Maps
Google Lens

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All of the above are context-relevant services that Google offers users who use their apps that can show products (without charge) when the context presents itself.

Mueller explained:

“I think also with regards to in-stock and not in stock, especially when it comes to products, one thing you can also do is kind of hedge your SEO together with Product Search.

So if you submit a Merchant Center feed, then we can also show those products within the… I don’t know what it’s called… the product search side bar thing or product listing ads I think it used to be called …I don’t know what the current name is.

We can also show those products there.

And we can show them there based on the feed.

So we don’t necessarily need to re-crawl the individual pages to recognize, Oh the page says it’s in stock.

We can just recognize in the feed that you submit to us, like suddenly the availability changed, we can put that back in.

So those are kind of the aspects there.

On the one hand if you want to remove it with a noindex or just removing internal links, that’s fine.”

Continue Reading Below

Google Can Handle Out of Stock Products

An interesting insight that Mueller shared is that links from the home page communicate to Google that the pages being linked to are important or of high priority.

He suggested adding a back in stock link from the home page in order to get Google to prioritize crawling and ranking those pages, particularly if they had been offline for a time.

Citations

Learn How to Show Products for Free in Google

Google Merchant Center

How to SEO the URLs of Temporarily Out of Stock Products

Watch John Mueller answer the question at the 33:37 Minute Mark

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Searchenginejournal.com

NEWS

OpenAI Introduces Fine-Tuning for GPT-4 and Enabling Customized AI Models

Published

4 weeks ago

August 21, 2024

Max

OpenAI Introduces Fine-Tuning for GPT-4 and Enabling Customized AI Models

OpenAI has today announced the release of fine-tuning capabilities for its flagship GPT-4 large language model, marking a significant milestone in the AI landscape. This new functionality empowers developers to create tailored versions of GPT-4 to suit specialized use cases, enhancing the model’s utility across various industries.

Fine-tuning has long been a desired feature for developers who require more control over AI behavior, and with this update, OpenAI delivers on that demand. The ability to fine-tune GPT-4 allows businesses and developers to refine the model’s responses to better align with specific requirements, whether for customer service, content generation, technical support, or other unique applications.

Why Fine-Tuning Matters

GPT-4 is a very flexible model that can handle many different tasks. However, some businesses and developers need more specialized AI that matches their specific language, style, and needs. Fine-tuning helps with this by letting them adjust GPT-4 using custom data. For example, companies can train a fine-tuned model to keep a consistent brand tone or focus on industry-specific language.

Fine-tuning also offers improvements in areas like response accuracy and context comprehension. For use cases where nuanced understanding or specialized knowledge is crucial, this can be a game-changer. Models can be taught to better grasp intricate details, improving their effectiveness in sectors such as legal analysis, medical advice, or technical writing.

Key Features of GPT-4 Fine-Tuning

The fine-tuning process leverages OpenAI’s established tools, but now it is optimized for GPT-4’s advanced architecture. Notable features include:

Enhanced Customization: Developers can precisely influence the model’s behavior and knowledge base.
Consistency in Output: Fine-tuned models can be made to maintain consistent formatting, tone, or responses, essential for professional applications.
Higher Efficiency: Compared to training models from scratch, fine-tuning GPT-4 allows organizations to deploy sophisticated AI with reduced time and computational cost.

Additionally, OpenAI has emphasized ease of use with this feature. The fine-tuning workflow is designed to be accessible even to teams with limited AI experience, reducing barriers to customization. For more advanced users, OpenAI provides granular control options to achieve highly specialized outputs.

Implications for the Future

The launch of fine-tuning capabilities for GPT-4 signals a broader shift toward more user-centric AI development. As businesses increasingly adopt AI, the demand for models that can cater to specific business needs, without compromising on performance, will continue to grow. OpenAI’s move positions GPT-4 as a flexible and adaptable tool that can be refined to deliver optimal value in any given scenario.

By offering fine-tuning, OpenAI not only enhances GPT-4’s appeal but also reinforces the model’s role as a leading AI solution across diverse sectors. From startups seeking to automate niche tasks to large enterprises looking to scale intelligent systems, GPT-4’s fine-tuning capability provides a powerful resource for driving innovation.

OpenAI announced that fine-tuning GPT-4o will cost $25 for every million tokens used during training. After the model is set up, it will cost $3.75 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens. To help developers get started, OpenAI is offering 1 million free training tokens per day for GPT-4o and 2 million free tokens per day for GPT-4o mini until September 23. This makes it easier for developers to try out the fine-tuning service.

As AI continues to evolve, OpenAI’s focus on customization and adaptability with GPT-4 represents a critical step in making advanced AI accessible, scalable, and more aligned with real-world applications. This new capability is expected to accelerate the adoption of AI across industries, creating a new wave of AI-driven solutions tailored to specific challenges and opportunities.

GOOGLE

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Published

3 months ago

June 30, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Here’s what happened in the world of Google and search engines this week:

1. Google’s June 2024 Spam Update

Google finished rolling out its June 2024 spam update over a period of seven days. This update aims to reduce spammy content in search results.

2. Changes to Google Search Interface

Google has removed the continuous scroll feature for search results. Instead, it’s back to the old system of pages.

3. New Features and Tests

Link Cards: Google is testing link cards at the top of AI-generated overviews.
Health Overviews: There are more AI-generated health overviews showing up in search results.
Local Panels: Google is testing AI overviews in local information panels.

4. Search Rankings and Quality

Improving Rankings: Google said it can improve its search ranking system but will only do so on a large scale.
Measuring Quality: Google’s Elizabeth Tucker shared how they measure search quality.

5. Advice for Content Creators

Brand Names in Reviews: Google advises not to avoid mentioning brand names in review content.
Fixing 404 Pages: Google explained when it’s important to fix 404 error pages.

6. New Search Features in Google Chrome

Google Chrome for mobile devices has added several new search features to enhance user experience.

7. New Tests and Features in Google Search

Credit Card Widget: Google is testing a new widget for credit card information in search results.
Sliding Search Results: When making a new search query, the results might slide to the right.

8. Bing’s New Feature

Bing is now using AI to write “People Also Ask” questions in search results.

9. Local Search Ranking Factors

Menu items and popular times might be factors that influence local search rankings on Google.

10. Google Ads Updates

Query Matching and Brand Controls: Google Ads updated its query matching and brand controls, and advertisers are happy with these changes.
Lead Credits: Google will automate lead credits for Local Service Ads. Google says this is a good change, but some advertisers are worried.
tROAS Insights Box: Google Ads is testing a new insights box for tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend) in Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns.
WordPress Tag Code: There is a new conversion code for Google Ads on WordPress sites.

These updates highlight how Google and other search engines are continuously evolving to improve user experience and provide better advertising tools.

FACEBOOK

Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

Published

6 months ago

March 20, 2024

Max

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.