01 The Rule
Return proper 404 status for pages that don't exist. Use 410 (Gone) for content that has been permanently removed. Never serve a 200 status with a 'page not found' message (soft 404).
404 & 410 Error Handling
Last updated: 2025-10-15
02 Rationale
Soft 404s (200 status with error content) waste crawl budget because search engines must download and render the page before detecting it's not real content. Proper 404/410 signals allow crawlers to immediately skip the URL and reallocate crawl capacity.
03 Implementation
- Return 404 for URLs that never existed or have no replacement
- Return 410 for content that was permanently removed (stronger removal signal)
- 301 redirect to a replacement page when content has moved
- Custom 404 page with navigation and search to help users
- Monitor Google Search Console for crawl error spikes
04 Common Violations & Consequences
Violation
Soft 404s (200 status with 'not found' content)
Consequence
Crawl budget wasted rendering empty pages; dilutes quality signals
Violation
Catching all 404s with a homepage redirect
Consequence
Loses removal signal; homepage receives irrelevant link equity
Violation
No monitoring of 404 rate changes
Consequence
Broken links and removed content go undetected, impacting user experience
05 The Fix
Audit your site for soft 404s using Google Search Console's Coverage report. Ensure your server returns proper status codes. Implement monitoring for 404 rate spikes that indicate broken links or removed content.