404 redirects

Hey guys wondering if anyone can help

How does 1 go about setting up 404 redirects for products that have been deleted from my site ,I've seen some that were deleted about 3/4 years ago still appearing , as I am having a major problem with these on google atm and am going round in circles by not fixing these correctly
using the latest version of zencart.
I believe there is a way to do it htaccess or any over way will be fine too

thanks

I have been looking though my 404 in my error_docs file and it seems all wrong ...could someone advise as to what should be in there

Do you have an example of an "old" link and the "new" link to which it should be mapped?

Here's an example of a simple 404.shtml that you can add to the root. It presents the logo on the page to confer branding, shows a possible link (if found), and allows the customer to search the site. You can add a special stylesheet but it is not needed.
Items in red will need to reflect your site.> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="includes/templates/yourTemplate/css/stylesheet.css" />

<img src="/includes/templates/newENL/images/logo.gif" alt="yourSite.Com" border="0"> <h3>We're sorry. The information you are looking for may have changed.<br />We've recently revamped our site to better serve our customers.</h3> <h4>Hopefully the system has suggested a link for you to follow.<br />If not, please use the search block to search our site for your item(s).</h4> <style type="text/css"> #goog-wm { } #goog-wm h3.closest-match { } #goog-wm h3.closest-match a { } #goog-wm h3.other-things { } #goog-wm ul li { } #goog-wm li.search-goog { display: block; } </style> <script type="text/javascript"> var GOOG_FIXURL_LANG = 'en'; var GOOG_FIXURL_SITE = 'http://yourSite.com/'; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://linkhelp.clients.google.com/tbproxy/lh/wm/fixurl.js"></script>

Hi this 1 has appeared that has been moved not to long ago
http://www. pewterworld.co. uk/Flutes to
http://www. pewterworld.co. uk/GobletsFlutes
but this 1 for example was removed about 2 years ago
http://www.pewterworld. co. uk/TieClips/PackOfCardsTieClip

hi dbltoe
will that coding stop google from finding 404's all the time in web masters tools.
I'll give it a go and see if it helps though

As far as I know, using the 404 redirect stops the error count. At least Google sees that you're trying to help the customer.

OK think I have done it right ,although if I click on a dead link it still goes to the "Page Not Found" page
is that right

:blush: Left out...

Add a line to the .htaccess file in the root.> ErrorDocument 404 /404.shtml

thanks for helping ,,still going to page not found ... Is it like a redirect to the main page ,or does it just fool google ..
Just cleared 15 found links this morning again

Checked again this morning and have 6 more ,although it is only on the www. , It seems my redirect from non www. to www. is working now

I have managed to find out how to remove old links ,now begins teh task of removing them 1 by 1