As a normal user, you try accessing a webpage out of excitement or necessity and land up on a 404 error. The only thing you end up with is frustration.
Have you faced a similar situation?
If yes, then you are not alone.
Similarly, as the owner of a website, if you get to see 404 errors on a few of your web pages during a routine check, what would be your immediate reaction? You would want your technical team to look into it at the earliest because you understand the damage a 404 error can cause to your business.
In both the above scenarios, there are reasons why you see this error. What is this error, its reason, does it adversely impact the website’s SEO, and how does one resolve it? These are a few of the most significant questions this knowledgebase will address.
So, stay tuned till the end to fully understand “How to find & Fix All 404 errors on your website?”
What is a 404 Error on a Website?
A 404 error code (referred to as HTTP 404 or 404 code) gets generated and is sent to the user in response to his request for accessing a specific website/webpage –
- That does not exist,
- That has been moved (elsewhere) OR
- That has a dead or broken link.
Let’s understand it technically.
When a page loads in a browser, it contains a response status code in the HTTP header section. Unfortunately, the users can’t see it.
We can segregate these response status codes into 5 categories:
| Informational Responses | 100 to 199 |
| Success Responses | 200 to 299 |
| Redirection Responses | 300 to 399 |
| Server Error Responses | 500 to 599 |
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Hard vs. Soft 404 Errors – The Difference.
A normal user doesn’t know that there are 2 kinds of 404 errors.
- The Hard 404 Error – The Real
- The Soft 404 Error – The False signal
The server returns a Hard 404 Error code to both the user and the search engine, indicating that the page linked to that URL does not exist in reality, has been deleted, or the current link is dead or broken.
A Soft 404 Error, like a regular 404, informs the visitor that the page he requests exists no more and simultaneously returns a 200 OK status code to the search engine. This 200 status code is a false signal which suggests to the search engine that the page loaded properly with all its attributes, but its content was missing.
Contrary to the Hard 404 error, a soft 404 means the page still exists but has no content to display. It is important to understand that search engines are smart and aware of this false signal. Hence, they place such pages under the real 404 error type and notify the webpage owner about the non-compliance.
Let’s understand both these errors with an example.
Suppose you own a website bearing dedicated pages and details of the product you sell. You don’t manufacture these products but buy them from a distributor or a manufacturer.
For some reason, your distributor or manufacturer discontinues a specific product, and you have exhausted its stock. In that case, you can do the following:
- If you completely remove the product page, a hard 404 error code will be returned.
- If you remove the product images, description, price, buy button, and other product-related details from the page but keep the page on your website, it will return a soft 404 error code (false signal with 200 OK to the search engine) to the user.
Now you must understand that a hard 404 error doesn’t harm your SEO ranking as much as a soft 404 error. If your website has several pages returning (hard & soft) 404 errors to the user, Google, and other search engines will mark such pages as duplicates. Because they don’t have any content to display, this state of your website will harm your SEO ranking.
Always maintain your website’s pages with all its content in the best possible condition. For some reason, if you wish to modify a page, take it down completely so that it returns a genuine hard 404 error code without harming your credit.
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Do 404 Errors Hurt your SEO & Why is it Important to Remove them?
An obvious answer to this question is “YES.”
Let us consider 2 aspects of this question.
➢ From the user’s viewpoint,
If your visitor/user gets to see a 404 error off and on, you are irritating and offering him an experience that he isn’t ready for. Such a horrifying experience can compel your user to leave your brand. Consider he is your regular and loyal customer who often faces 404 errors. Can your business afford to lose such a customer?
➢ From an SEO viewpoint
Even from the SEO’s viewpoint, 404 errors are no good. It becomes worse when you lose your dedicated customer and also face a drop in your SEO rankings.
In general cases, 404 errors are not considered a part of the ranking criteria. Still, the repercussions on your SEO can be huge, decreasing your page rank and increasing your Website Bounce Rate.
Experts don’t suggest having broken or dead links to your web pages. A 404 error might not impact your page rank, but bounce rates do. Hence, if your website bounce rate exceeds the acceptable limit, Google could penalize your website.
Also Read: What is HSTS & How to Implement on your website?
How to Find 404 Error on Your Website?
Now that we have understood the severity of a 404 error, let’s learn to identify and eliminate such errors.
Users who call to inform that the pages on your website are returning 404 errors don’t exist practically. No customer will take up the pain, instead would love to leave your website.
So then, is there a way to catch such notorious 404 errors?
The answer is YES.
We are presenting you with 4 methods to find the 404 errors on your website.
You can identify the 404 error with the help of –
- Google Webmasters
- Google Analytics
- Screaming Frog
- SEMrush
Let’s begin!
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Google Webmasters Tool OR Google Search Console
We are beginning this section with the free Google Webmaster Tool because of its usability and simplicity. This tool helps you track the 404 Error with ease.
Here are the steps:
- Log in to your Google search console & Go to the website’s dashboard.
- Pages present under the Indexing is available in the dashboard’s left panel.
- You will see “Not found (404)” under the error.
- When you click on it, it will display all pages that return the 404 errors.
- Click on any URL from the list display, and you will see all the pages that have broken links.
You may see broken links from external sources arising from misspelled words or errors. In that case, you can always set a 301 redirection on that page, inform the owner of that external link and request a fix for the link.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool that helps you understand your customer’s web journey and improves your marketing ROI.
Google Analytics is a very simple web analytical tool that helps you track and report 404 errors on your website. Despite Google Analytics being a very useful reporting tool, tracking down 404 errors can be tricky. hence you must be more familiar with and accustomed to using this process.
Most 404 Error pages contain a title displaying the message “Page not found” or something similar.
- To begin with, open Google Analytics.
- Click on the “Behavior” tab.
- Select “Site Content”
- Now Select “All Pages.”
- Next, change the Primary Dimension to “Page Title.”
Towards the end, type the title of your 404 page into the search box; click on the result.
Congratulations! You now have your Google Analytics 404 report ready.
Tip: To see the most frequently occurring errors, sort pages by the number of views.
Screaming Frog
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is an awesome audit tool (site crawler) for your website to track down broken links that return 404 errors. Screaming Frog offers both the Free version and Paid version. Screaming Frog is free if your website houses less than 500 URLs.
You can start by auditing your website using Screaming Frog. Once the audit process ends, click on the Response Codes tab, and from the Filter dropdown, select Client Error (4XX). As the site crawler displays only the broken links, you won’t get a full list of 404 errors.
SEMrush
The Site Audit Tool by SEMrush is essential for finding broken links (404 Errors) and fixing them.
Once you have created a new project to access the site audit tool, go to Management, present in the main toolbar. Click on Projects and “Add a New Project.” The Dashboard will display several cards. Select the Site Audit Card and click Setup. You will need to configure the basic settings before you can begin auditing your website.
Here are the steps:
- Create a new project to access the site audit tool.
- The Dashboard will display several cards. From these, select the Site Audit Card and click on Setup.
- You will need to configure the basic settings before you can begin auditing your website.
Provide basic information like the number of pages to audit, pages to ignore, and other information to the panel for the crawlers to use.
Once the crawler analyzes the task, the tool will display the number of issues. Go to input search space to search for broken links or link issues. You can resolve the broken links by modifying them or removing them completely.
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How to Fix 404 Error on Your Website?
Let’s learn the magic of fixing these 404 errors.
There are 4 methods to easily resolve the broken link error and prevent your users from leaving your website. It is essential to check your website, perform regular audits and keep improving the site’s performance to increase your brand value.
1. 404 Error Redirection
Experts recommend 404 error redirection as one of the best ways to resolve the broken link issue. You must redirect users to another relevant or similar page on your website. Redirecting your users back to your homepage is not a good idea. No one loves to go back to square one.
In most cases, page redirection has proved the most effective way to resolve the broken link issue. It would be best to redirect users to another relevant or similar page on your website. Hence, they see useful information rather than a 404 error message.
Generally speaking, there are 2 types of page redirections viz. 301 (permanent redirection) and 302 (temporary redirection). It is solely upon the website owner to decide if the new (redirected page) isn’t going to reverse. The owner can implement a 301 redirection. Alternatively, he can ask his team to set 302 redirections if the redirection is for a short time.
Let’s understand this concept with an example:
Suppose you own a web development company where you have created a dedicated support page. Now you have shifted all the information from your support page to your Contact Us page. Additionally, you have removed the Support Page. When your user visits the support page to request support, he will see a 404 error on the support page.
Here you can avoid showing him the 404 error by implementing 301 redirection of the support page to the contact us page. All his support information is already present on contact us, and the user can easily raise a support ticket from this (new) page.
2. Restore the Page to the Original
Suppose you deleted a specific page with a purpose, but the reports suggest that the page is still in high demand. Not having the page present on your website might harm it as well. To curb this situation, restore the original page from a backup OR recreate it in the interest of your visitors.
Suppose you deleted a specific page with a purpose. In most of the cases restoration of the page might not be possible. Hence, you will have to resort to redirection. But if you can restore the deleted page in the interest of your users, please proceed because it will save you the labor of setting up the page redirection.
3. Link Correction
A Stitch In Time Saves Nine.
It is always advisable to mend a ripped cloth in time than to continue in the same situation. The same applies to broken links on your web pages. Despite having limited usage, you must always try rectifying your site’s broken links to help them point to the correct and existing URLs. The only drawback of this method is you cannot apply this solution to links from external sources.
How to Fix 404 Error on WordPress Website
Before you can fix the 404 errors on your WordPress website, you must identify them. Use the above steps to find them.
The Solution –
If you see this error throughout your WordPress website, the core issue is with the site’s permalinks.
So go to “Settings → Permalinks to update your settings. Make the necessary changes and click on the “Save Changes” button present at the bottom of the page.
A 301 redirect will help you fix recurrent 404 errors on specific pages. Generally, WordPress fixes such errors automatically, but if this doesn’t work, you may have to update or reinstall your Redirection plugin.
Once the plugin is installed and activated, proceed to Tools → Redirection.
Answer a set of questions to configure the tool.
Once you complete this process, redirection of any URL on your WordPress website is possible.
Here are the simple steps:
- In the Source URL Field – Type the URL you want to redirect.
- Query Parameters – Exact match all parameters in any order.
- In the Target URL Field – Type the URL to which you wish to redirect the page.
- Group – Redirections.
Just enter the URL you want to redirect in the Source URL field and the URL you want to redirect the page to in the Target URL field.
Then click Add Redirect.
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Tips for 404 Pages
At which frequencies should you check your site for 404 errors would be a major question for all.
A generic answer:
Smaller sites with less than 50 pages can be checked monthly.
Medium to large-sized sites can schedule checks on a weekly or fortnightly basis.
Larger sites cannot take chances. Schedule the 404 error check twice or thrice a week.
Conclusion
It is mandatory to consider 404 Errors as a serious issue regarding your business and brand credibility. Such errors don’t take you anywhere, so ignoring them can cost your customers.
Precaution is always better than cure. Similarly, being vigilant and regularly performing site audits will safeguard your site from probable harm.
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