In WooCommerce a category may end up with fewer products than before, and an old paginated URL such as /category/page/4/ may no longer contain any products.
The temptation is to automatically redirect these URLs to the first page of the category. In reality, that is not always the right choice: if the page no longer exists and has no equivalent replacement, the cleanest behaviour is to return a real 404.
When an empty paginated page should return a 404
If the /page/4/ URL no longer corresponds to a real page of the category, there is no content to show. In this case a 404 correctly tells users and search engines that this specific resource does not exist.
Google recommends using a 404 or 410 status code when a page no longer exists and there is no truly equivalent replacement page.
When a 301 redirect makes sense
A 301 makes sense when there is a new, equivalent destination. For example, when a category has been renamed or moved and the content really matches the new URL.
Redirecting every empty page to the first page of the category, on the other hand, can create behaviour similar to a soft 404: the user asks for a specific resource and is taken somewhere else with no real equivalence.
What if the category exists but has no products?
A category that exists on purpose but is temporarily empty is a different case. If you want to keep it accessible to users, consider showing it with a helpful message while temporarily excluding it from indexing with noindex.
If, on the other hand, the category is no longer needed and is also removed from internal navigation, a 404 may be more consistent.
What to check in WooCommerce
- that pages beyond the last real page return a 404;
- that menus, filters and pagination do not generate links to empty URLs;
- that categories without products do not stay indexable for no reason;
- that any redirects point only to equivalent content;
- that canonicals and sitemaps contain only URLs you really want indexed.
How to check the HTTP status code
Looking at what appears on screen is not enough. A page can look like an error but still return 200 OK. So check the HTTP response with the browser’s developer tools, curl or Search Console.
Conclusion
For empty WooCommerce pages there is no “redirect everything” rule. The choice depends on what the URL means: 404 if it no longer exists, 301 if there is a real replacement, noindex if the page exists but should not appear in search results.
If you are working on indexing, categories and e-commerce structure, you can also read more about WordPress technical SEO or see my website and e-commerce services.