404 errors and broken pages
A 404 error is the “page not found” response a visitor sees when an address doesn’t exist, usually because the page was deleted or moved, or a link has a typo. A soft 404 is a page that loads but is empty or shows an error message, so Google treats it as missing.
Why it matters
Section titled “Why it matters”Google drops 404 pages from search results. That’s fine for pages that are truly gone, but a problem if the page was important or still has links pointing to it. Broken links on your own site also frustrate visitors.
How to find them
Section titled “How to find them”- Open Google Search Console and choose your site.
- In the left menu, select Pages (under Indexing).
- Look for Not found (404) and Soft 404 in the Why pages aren’t indexed table, and select each to see the addresses.
How to fix them
Section titled “How to fix them”| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| The page moved or has a close replacement | Set up a 301 redirect to the new page. |
| Your own site links to the missing page | Update or remove the link. |
| The page is gone for good with no replacement | Leave it as a 404. That’s the correct response. |
| A soft 404 on a page that should exist | Add real content to the page, or remove it properly. |
A handful of 404s is normal and doesn’t hurt the rest of your site.
Google’s guide
Section titled “Google’s guide”How HTTP status codes affect Google’s crawlers (Google Search Central)