{"id":30115,"date":"2024-11-12T12:39:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T12:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/en\/blog\/wiki\/404-not-found\/"},"modified":"2025-03-12T09:23:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T09:23:44","slug":"404_Not_Found","status":"publish","type":"wiki","link":"https:\/\/www.seobility.net\/en\/wiki\/404_Not_Found","title":{"rendered":"404 Not Found"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is a 404 not found error?<\/span><\/h2>\n

A 404 not found error is an error that indicates that there is no page available for the URL<\/a> specified by the visitor. When this occurs, the server returns a 404 response code, indicating that the page doesn\u2019t exist at this location. 404 response codes typically mean that the page was moved or deleted by the website, but it can also occur if the user types the wrong URL.\n<\/p>\n

Most websites have a special 404 page served to a user when the page they are looking for is not available. They often link their 404 pages to other popular content on the site, as well as the homepage. Although 404 errors can be frustrating to users, they can serve various important purposes.\n<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot\n<\/p>\n

What 404 pages are used for<\/span><\/h2>\n

A 404 page is a page on a website that informs users there is no page available for the URL provided. 404 pages also indicate to search engines<\/a> that the page has either been deleted or has moved. This impacts SEO because it often causes the pages to lose their rankings or be removed from the index<\/a> entirely. However, It can also help reduce index bloat and allow search engine crawlers<\/a> to crawl your website more effectively.\n<\/p>\n

A Soft 404<\/span><\/h2>\n

The term \u201csoft 404<\/a>\u201d is a term used to describe a 404 page that returns a 200 response code instead of a 404 response code. The 200 response code indicates that the page exists, causing search engines to crawl and index the page. This can cause index bloat and waste crawl budget, contrary to a normal 404 page which returns a 404 response code telling search engines that the page doesn\u2019t exist.\n<\/p>\n

A soft 404 isn\u2019t an actual response code but is an SEO term used to describe the incorrect serving of a 2XX code instead of a 4XX code.\n<\/p>\n

404 not found best practices<\/span><\/h2>\n

Here are some of the industry\u2019s best practices for 404 pages:\n<\/p>\n