When a page does not exist, your server should return HTTP status 404 (or 410 if gone for good) and show a helpful page.
A good 404 page
- Says clearly the page was not found.
- Offers search, popular links and a way home.
- Keeps your normal header and footer.
Soft 404s
A soft 404 is a "not found" page that returns status 200, or an empty page that looks like an error. Search engines may index these junk pages or treat real pages as errors.
404 or 410?
- 404 Not Found: the page does not exist. Search engines retry it for a while before dropping it.
- 410 Gone: the page was removed on purpose and will not return. It is dropped a little faster.
Either is fine for removed pages. What matters is not returning 200 for missing pages.
When to redirect instead
If a removed page had visitors or backlinks and there is a close replacement, redirect it with a 301. If there is no good replacement, a helpful 404 is better than redirecting to the home page.
Track 404s
Your server logs and analytics show which missing addresses visitors request. Fix internal links that cause them, and redirect the popular ones.
Check yours
The 404 page checker requests a made-up address on your site and checks the status code. Site audits report a soft 404 as a warning.
0 comments