Google’s John Mueller addressed whether numerous 404 errors negatively impact rankings and provided a clear explanation of the best practices for handling them.Google Cautions On Improper 404 Handling
404 (Not Found) Status Code
404 is the code that a server sends when a browser or a crawler requests a web page that the server couldn’t find. It only means that the page was not found.
The official W3C documentation doesn’t use the word “error” in its definition of 404. That said, the 400 series of codes (400, 404, 410, etc.) are classified as Client Error Responses. A client is a browser or a crawler, so a client error response means that the server is telling the browser or crawler that their request is in error. It doesn’t mean that the website is in error.
This is the official W3C definition of a 404 Page Not Found response:
“The 404 (Not Found) status code indicates that the origin server did not find a current representation for the target resource or is not willing to disclose that one exists. A 404 status code does not indicate whether this lack of representation is temporary or permanent; the 410 (Gone) status code is preferred over 404 if the origin server knows, presumably through some configurable means, that the condition is likely to be permanent.”
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Will 404 Errors Affect Rankings?
The person asking the question wanted to know if a lot of 404 responses will affect rankings. Google’s John Mueller answered the question then he explained the right way to “fix” 404 error responses and cautioned about when not to “fix” them. I put “fix” in quotation marks because 404 responses are not always something that needs fixing.
Here’s the question:
“My website has a lot of 404s. Would I lose my site’s rankings if I don’t redirect them?”
John Mueller answered:
“First off, the 404s wouldn’t affect the rest of your site’s rankings.”
Addressing 404s With Redirects
Mueller next discussed the use of redirects for stopping 404 responses from happening. A redirect is a server response that tells the client that the web page they are requesting has been moved to another URL. A 301 redirect tells the browser or crawler that the URL has permanently moved to another URL.
When To Use Redirects For 404s
Redirecting a web page that no longer exists to another web page is sometimes the right way to handle 404 page not found responses.
This is how Mueller explains the proper use of redirects for “fixing” 404 responses:
“Redirects can play a role in dealing with old pages, but not always. For example, if you have a genuine replacement product, such as a new cup that functionally replaces a cup which is no longer produced, then redirecting is fine.”
When Not To Use Redirects For 404s
Next he explained when not to use redirects for 404s, explaining that it’s a crummy experience to show a web page that is irrelevant to what the site visitors are expecting to see.
Mueller explains:
“On the other hand, if you just have similar pages, then don’t redirect. If the user clicked on your site in search of a knife, they would be frustrated to only see spoons. It’s a terrible user-experience, and doesn’t help in search. “
It’s Okay To Show 404 Responses
Mueller next explained that it’s okay to show 404 responses because it’s the right response for when a browser or crawler asks for a page that doesn’t exist on a server anymore.
He explained:
“Instead, return an HTTP 404 result code. Make a great 404 page. Maybe even make a 404 page that explains why spoons are superior to knives, if you can make that argument. Just don’t blindly redirect to a similar page, a category page, or your homepage. If you’re unsure, don’t redirect. Accept that 404s are fine, they’re a normal part of a healthy website.”Google Cautions On Improper 404 Handling
Always Investigate Error Responses
Something that Mueller didn’t mention is that 404 responses should always be investigated. Don’t stop investigating just because the page doesn’t exist and there’s no other page to redirect it to. Sometimes there’s a real problem that needs solving.
404 By Internal Links
For example, some 404s are caused by broken internal linking where a URL is misspelled. You can “fix” that by redirecting the wrong URL to the correct URL but that’s not fixing the problem because the real problem is the broken link itself.
404 Caused By Outgoing Links
Some 404s are caused by linking to pages that no longer exist. Linking to pages that don’t exist makes it look like the page is abandoned. It’s a poor user experience to link to a non-existent web page and there is never a “normal part of a healthy website.” So either link to the right page, link to something else or don’t link to anything at all.Google Cautions On Improper 404 Handling
404s Caused By Inbound Links
There are another type of 404 responses that Mueller didn’t talk about that need looking into. Sometimes sites misspell a URL and when that happens the right response would be a 301 to the correct response. You can try contacting the site to ask them to fix their mistake but it’s easier to just add the redirect and move on with your life.
Listen to the question and answer at the 2:08 minute mark:
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