What is a 404 error?
A 404 is the HTTP status code a server returns when a requested page doesn't exist. Having some on a site is normal; the costly version is a soft 404, where a missing page returns 200 instead.
A 404 tells a crawler clearly: this isn't here, stop looking. That clarity is useful, and a site with zero 404s over time is not healthier than one with a few, it is usually just a site where nothing has ever been removed or renamed.
The soft 404 is the version that actually causes problems: a page showing not found text to a person but returning a 200 OK status to whatever asked for it. A crawler reading the status code has no way to know the page is empty and may index it as legitimate content; an engine that detects the pattern from the page's thin text anyway may start distrusting other pages on the same site. The fix is mechanical: a missing page's server response should say so, not just its visible text.
Related
- IndexationIndexation is whether a search engine has stored your page and is willing to return it. Being crawled is not the same as being indexed, and being indexed is not the same as ranking.
- Thin contentThin content is a page that exists to be indexed rather than to be read. Google's test is purpose and added value, not word count.
- RedirectA redirect is a server response sending a browser or crawler from one URL to another. The status code it uses, 301 or 302, tells the engine whether the move is permanent or temporary, and the two are not interchangeable.
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