How should a small business handle expired service or promotion pages?

Choose the action based on whether the underlying intent will return and whether the URL has lasting value.

1. For recurring seasonal pages, keep the same URL and update the content when the next season approaches. Avoid creating a new year-specific URL unless the year itself is meaningful.

2. For ended promotions with a close replacement, redirect to the relevant evergreen service or current offer.

3. For truly obsolete pages with no replacement, return 404 or 410 and remove internal links and sitemap entries.

4. If the page has backlinks or significant history, evaluate whether an updated evergreen version can preserve legitimate value.

5. Do not redirect unrelated expired pages to the homepage simply to avoid 404s.

6. Update structured data, titles, and calls to action so stale offers are not advertised after expiration.

Content lifecycle is part of technical SEO. Every old URL should have an intentional state instead of accumulating as forgotten index clutter.