How to remove a WordPress page from a website

Need to find out how to delete a page from your website? This WordPress tutorial shows you how to do it.

Whenever you delete a page (or post) from your website, you also delete one or more URLs. This old URL, when visited, usually returns a erreur 404, which is not the best thing for Google or your users.

You can redirect that deleted page to another page, or perhaps - if you really want content to disappear from your website - serving a header 410 message would actually be a better idea. This post explains the choices you have and how to implement them.

But first, if you've never installed WordPress, find out How to Install a WordPress Blog in 7 Steps et How to search, install and activate a WordPress theme on your blog 

Then back to why we are here.

Redirect or delete a page?

The first thing you need to determine is whether or not the content you deleted has an equivalent elsewhere on your website. Think of it this way: if I clicked on a link to the page you deleted, Is there another page on your website that gives me the information I'm looking for? 

Also check out our ultimate guide to Keyword research for SEO

If this is true for most of the people who follow the link, you should redirect the deleted URL to the alternate page. In general, we recommend that you redirect to a page even if only a handful of visitors would benefit from it.

Create a redirect

There are several types of redirects, but one 301 redirection is what is called a permanent redirect, and it is what you should use when redirecting that deleted page url to another url. Using a 301 redirect means that Google and other search engines will assign the link value from the old URL to the URL you redirected your visitors to.

See also our article on 5 WordPress plugins to improve blog redirects

Complete removal of content

If there really isn't an alternate page on your website with this information, you must ask yourself whether it is better to delete it or keep it and improve it instead. But if you are absolutely sure you want to remove it, make sure to send the correct HTTP header.

HTTP Status 404 and 410

The difference between a 404 status and a 410 is simple: 404 means "content not found", 410 means "content removed" and is therefore more specific. If a URL returns a status of 410, Google knows for sure that you deleted the URL on purpose, and it should therefore remove that URL from its index much sooner.

Collateral damage when deleting a page

When you delete one or more articles or pages from your website, there is often collateral damage. Suppose you have deleted all articles from your website that have a specific tag. Since this tag is now empty, its archive URL will also give a 404 error.

Read also: How to copy and paste text in WordPress without formatting issues

Even if you correctly handle all the article URLs you have deleted (by redirecting them or giving them a 410 status), the tag archive will still result in a 404, so you need to be sure to deal with that URL.

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Conclusion