Ever wonder what is a 404 error?
404 Error means that the page you were looking for was not found. Usually, it is for three reasons:
- You inserted the wrong URL
- The page has been removed (whether intentionally or inadvertently)
- The page has been moved to a different location
What is a 404 error?
In more complex terms, the 404 Not Found error message is a HTTP standard response code indicating that the client was able to communicate with a given server, but the server could not locate the requested resource.
Anytime you enter a URL into the browser, a request is made on your behalf:
- The request is routed through the Internet to the domain on the URL (e.g., www.techcrunch.com).
- The domain is converted to an IP.
- Your request goes through to that IP address.
- Once it reaches the computer on that IP address, there is a web server listening.
- The web server will look for that resource, and if it does not find it will send back a 404.
However, server-side issues can lead to other errors, such as error code 521, which typically indicates that the server is down and unable to handle the request. Unlike a 404, this is more about a lack of server availability rather than a missing resource.
How to Know You Came Across A 404 Error Page?
All of them tend to have similar properties:
LEGO.COM
GOOGLE.COM
LINKODY.COM
As you can see, all of the 404 error pages indicate one thing: the page you are looking for is not there.
How To Check How Many 404 Error Pages A Site Has?
There is no need to do it manually. There are several FREE tools that will automate finding 404 error pages.
My 4 favorite tools are:
- Broken Link Check
- Dead Link Checker
- Screaming Frog (steepest learning curve)
- LinkStorm (easiest to use)
What Can You Do When You Encounter a 404 Error on Another Website?
Once you see a 404 error message, you should always double-check the URL to make sure you are not the one making the mistake.
Once you know for sure it’s not your mistake. Almost 100% of the time, the page has been moved or removed, and the site owner has forgotten to implement a redirect to the new location.
And Google hates that.
So, you should email the site’s owner and let him/her know that there is a 404 error on the page.
This is a great way of building relationships. You help a site owner out, and sometime in the future, they might return the favor.
Who knows, maybe you will even get a backlink.
How to Fix A 404 Error on Your Own Website?
If your own website has a 404 error page, there are a few things that could have caused this, and several ways to approach it
If the 404 error page has many inbound links
If a 404 error page has many inbound links pointing to it, whether internal links or backlinks, that means the page receives valuable link juice from many sources.
Don’t let that link equity go to waste! There are two ways to resolve this, depending on your current situation:
A. If there is an alternative page to the 404 error page
The best fix is to implement a 301 redirect to the new, relevant page. This ensures that both users and search engines are sent to a useful destination instead of a dead end.
On WordPress, there are several plugins that you can use that will automate redirect creation:
If you are using a back-end (back-office) that doesn’t have an option to download a plugin. It will be a bit more difficult to create a redirect, but you can watch the video below will guide you through the redirect creation process.
A 301 redirect also passes most of the SEO value from those backlinks, helping you retain traffic and authority. It also ensures that visitors receive the best possible user experience once they click through those inbound links because they won’t be landing on an error page.
B. If there is no alternative page to the 404 error page
Suppose your 404 error page used to be a blog post on budget-friendly email marketing tips. Avoid redirecting to unrelated pages, like your homepage—it doesn’t make any sense, confusing users and weakening SEO.
You can either reinstate the page to ensure the link equity from the referring pages doesn’t go to waste. However, if that is not possible, create a new page satisfying the same search intent and set up a 301 redirect from the old page to that newly created page.
If the 404 error page has one or a few inbound links
If a 404 error page has only one or a few inbound links, your fix depends on the source. While 301 redirects may seem convenient, they have a tendency to dilute link equity, which sets a cap on their impact on your website.
Here are alternative approaches to consider:
A. If the referring page is an internal link
This means you have access to the page. The quickest and easiest fix is to simply update the URL with the correct one within your website.
Doing so helps you maintain a clean site structure without the hassle of setting up a 301 redirect.
B. If the referring page is an external source
In this case, the best approach is to contact the site owner and politely ask them to update the link to the new or correct URL.
While this may seem minor, every backlink contributes to your site’s authority. Fixing it ensures both users and referral traffic land on a live, relevant page.
If they don’t respond or acknowledge your message, only then do you implement a 301 redirect.
If the 404 error page has no inbound links
If a 404 error page has no inbound links, it poses little to no SEO risk. However, it is still advisable to address the page to ensure a smoother user experience.
In this case, you must unpublish the page from your site to permanently remove it from your internal link structure and prevent Googlebot from reaching the page. Next, set up a 410 status on the page to let web crawlers know it was intentionally removed.
These signals help search engines understand that the page is no longer available and must be deindexed over time. No need for a redirect here, especially if there is no relevant replacement here.
What Does An HTTP Error Message Mean?
There are 5 classes of standard HTTP response codes.
- 1xx – Informational Codes (gives provisional response)
- 2xx – Success Status Codes (tells request was received and processed successfully)
- 3xx – Redirection Status Codes (tells client to take additional action to complete request; used in URL Redirection)
The classes 4xx and 5xx are response codes for ERRORS.
- 4xx – Client Error
- 5xx – Server Error
4xx codes are used to tell the client that a fault has taken place on THEIR side. They should not retransmit the same request again, but fix the error first.
5xx codes tell the client that something happened on the server, and their request by itself was perfectly valid. The client can continue and try again with the request without modification
I Hope Now You Better Understand What Is A 404 Error Message!
So to sum up, 404 not found errors mainly appear in two cases:
- You inserted the wrong URL
- OR the resource has been moved/removed
If it happened on a different website, let the site owners know. That’s a nice thing to do, and might come around to bless you.
If it happened on your own website, set up a redirect to the correct, functional website.
Moreover, if you need more of your questions answered, visit our SEO FAQ section.