404 Not Found
404 means the resource doesn’t exist. Proper 404s aren’t penalized, but lots of 404s, bad internal links, and soft 404s waste crawl resources.
Definition
404 Not Found is an HTTP status indicating the resource is missing. In SEO, correct 404s are healthy. Problems arise from broken internal links, bad redirects, or returning 200 for missing pages (soft 404).
Why it matters
- Many 404s waste crawl budget and hurt UX
- Broken internal links weaken discovery paths
- 200 responses for missing pages create indexing confusion (soft 404)
How to implement
- Return 404 (or 410) for missing pages and provide a helpful 404 page
- Remove broken URLs from internal links and sitemaps
- Use 301 only when there is a true replacement URL
Examples
http
HTTP/1.1 404 Not FoundRelated
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