A 404 page, or error page, is the content a user sees when they try to reach a non-existent page on our website. It ‘s the page your server displays when it can ‘t find the URL requested by the user.
While there ‘s a lot of thought and discussion surrounding how you should handle 404 errors and their impact on SEO, the fact remains that 404 errors are nearly unavoidable. While it ‘s tempting to simply redirect all 404 errors to the homepage, that ‘s actually the opposite of what you should be doing.
Common causes of 404
Here are some common causes and examples of 404 errors:
- A page has been deleted or moved without updating or redirecting the old URL.
- Typos or mistakes (a misspelled URL) in internal or external links will lead to non-existent URLs.
- A user or search engine tries to access a URL that was never created on the website by following an incorrect link (in the XML sitemap, a misspelled URL on another website, etc.).
- A site restructuring or redesign where old URLs have not been properly redirected to new ones. For example, category pages now reside in /category/ folder and before they were put in the main folder.
- Technical issues, website errors, or misconfigurations in the website’s content management system (CMS) can cause 404 errors as well.
Are 404’s bad?
A 404 isn’t always a bad thing. If a page is removed, and not coming back, it’s fine to show your visitors that the page is gone. URLs with a 404 status code will normally be removed from Google’s index, so showing a 404 page can help remove unwanted URLs from Google. Of course, your visitors don’t like seeing a 404 page, so you don’t want any links pointing to pages that no longer exist.
Do 404 errors affect SEO?
404 errors are a common part of the online landscape. As content is created and removed, it’s natural for websites to have some broken or outdated links that result in 404 errors.
When a search engine encounters a 404 error, it simply acknowledges that the content does not exist anymore and eventually removes it from the index.
Depending on the situation and the website, 404 errors may have a negative, positive, or neutral effect on the website’s visibility in search results.
The impact of 404s on SEO
Here is how these errors impact SEO:
Loss in page rank
Your page is likely to lose its rank if search engines keep on trying to access it unsuccessfully. When this happens, bots send negative signals about that particular resource, and it can be removed from the index if this happens several times. Now consider that is your landing or home page and contains essential information.
Definitely, the page won’t be ranked. Not only that, if it is a product page, then it means your sales will also be hurt. That is not something you really want to happen.
Bad user experience
One reason why a site attracts more and more people is because of the excellent user experience. Now consider having a site that halts users’ attempts to view your products and services by displaying the 404s. No doubt, they will stop trying and probably give your competitors a shot. Additionally, if the bounce rate is high, search engines will note that and lower your ranking.
How to identify 404 errors
The first step is always an awareness of the problem. To effectively identify 404 errors, I use the following three methods:
1. Performing a crawl of the entire site with JetOctopus or Screaming Frog
These powerful SEO tools provide comprehensive crawl reports, enabling me to discover all the 404 errors on my website.
They list all detected broken links and crawl errors together with the list of pages where those links are. It allows me to quickly review and (if necessary) fix those 404 errors on the relevant page.
2. Checking the GSC Indexing report
You can check all 404 and soft 404 errors (detected by Google) in the Google Search Console Indexing report.
Just navigate to Indexing > Pages > Not indexed and review the section “Why pages aren’t indexed”.
3. Using Ahrefs SEO Toolbar for checking broken links on a per-page basis
The Ahrefs SEO Toolbar extension allows me to quickly assess the status of all links on a specific page.
When I find a broken link, I can promptly fix or remove it. This is, of course, only the method to analyze specific pages.
How to fix 404 on WordPress
By using the Redirection plugin. This plugin helps you redirect changed URLs to the new destination. Here is how to use it after downloading and installing:
- Once downloaded and installed, go to Settings and then 404 tab.
- Tap to review any issues detected
- Then fill the Redirect section with the URLs from which you want to redirect
- Add the new URLs, the ones that you want to redirect to in the destination tab
- Save changes
You can also use these plugins:
- WP 404 Auto Redirect to Similar Post
- Simple 301 Redirects
- Safe Redirect Manager
- Yoast SEO Premium
Using 404 pages for good
404 pages come in handy is helping users find the error page or resource they are looking instead of closing the window or navigating to other sites. These pages do a good job of turning potential negative user experience of encountering errors into a positive one.
Here are some links to add on your 404 pages:
- Your homepage
- Most popular or valuable product or category pages
- Some of your most popular blog pages
- An HTML sitemap
- A way for users to report a broken link or a contact page/form
Note that you can also add a search bar to your 404 pages to help your users find what they are looking for.
Should you redirect 404 to homepage?
Some website owners automatically redirect 404 pages to the homepage, or to other relevant pages. This is not recommended. Your user is often unaware of the redirect, and does not understand why she ended up on the homepage, instead of the page she was looking for. This can be confusing.
More guidelines about redirecting and 404s:
- 404s should not be redirected globally to the home page.
- 404s should not always be redirected.
- 404s should only be redirected to a parent or category page only if that is the most relevant user experience available.
- It is okay to serve a 404 when the page doesn’t exist anymore
- Don’t panic. 404s are normal.