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ReachGiant is a digital marketing agency, and fixing issues like these is part of our technical SEO work. The steps below show which errors deserve attention and which ones you can safely leave alone.
A 404 error is the status code a server returns when a page cannot be found. Every site produces them, whether from deleted pages, mistyped links, or retired products. Google addresses this directly, and its guidance on whether 404s hurt your site says missing pages do not drag down the rest of your rankings.
How 404 errors affect SEO depends on what the missing page used to do. A 404 page drops out of the index, so any ranking, traffic, or link equity it carried disappears with it. That is why 404 errors and SEO are linked, even though the status code itself is not a penalty.
Most 404s trace back to a handful of causes. A page gets deleted, a URL changes during a redesign, a product expires, or someone mistypes a link. The cause points to the cure, whether that is a redirect, an updated link, or nothing at all.
Site changes deserve special attention. A single URL change can create hundreds of 404s overnight, which is why redirects belong in every launch plan.
Picture a store owner who deletes last season’s product pages in one afternoon. Some of those pages had backlinks from blogs and review sites, and others still brought in steady search traffic. Those are the 404s that cost real money.
Broken internal links are the second problem. They send visitors to a dead end and waste crawl budget on pages that no longer exist. Fixing them is usually the quickest win on the list.
If a page should stay live for visitors but leave search results, a noindex tag is the better tool, and our guide on noindex vs nofollow explains how it works. Redirect choices matter too, so read our breakdown of 301 vs 302 redirects before you pick one.
A soft 404 is a page that looks like an error to visitors but tells search engines everything is fine. The server returns a 200 status while the page says not found or shows almost no content. Google flags these in Search Console and leaves them out of the index.
Redirecting every missing page to the homepage often creates the same problem. Google can treat that blanket redirect as a soft 404, and visitors land somewhere they never asked for.
Google’s guidance on HTTP status codes gives a simple rule. Return a 404 or 410 when a page is gone for good, and redirect to a close match when it moved.
Start with Google Search Console, where the page indexing report lists URLs marked Not found (404) along with any soft 404s. Our walkthrough on how to use Google Search Console shows where to look. Compare the list against the pages you actually care about.
A site crawler adds the missing half, because it finds broken internal links that Search Console may not surface. Run one after any redesign, migration, or large content clean-up. A full technical SEO audit rolls this into a wider health check.
Treat the check as part of ongoing SEO maintenance instead of a one-off project. New 404s appear whenever content changes. A monthly review catches them while they are still small.
Start with internal links, because they are fully under your control. Update every link that points to a dead URL so visitors and crawlers reach a live page.
Next, deal with the pages that have backlinks or traffic. Redirect them with a permanent 301 to the closest relevant page, never to the homepage by default. Then leave genuine removals as a 404 or 410, and recheck any soft 404s.
Finally, confirm the fixes in Search Console and watch for new errors over the following weeks. Avoid chasing URLs that were meant to disappear.
A custom 404 page cannot rescue rankings, but it can rescue the visit. Good 404 error page SEO starts with a search box, links to your most useful pages, and a short, friendly message. The page must also return a real 404 status, since a friendly page that returns a 200 becomes a soft 404.
These 404 page best practices work on any platform. Keep the tone friendly, and link to a few popular pages instead of listing the whole site.
So, are 404 errors bad for SEO? They are harmless when pages are gone on purpose, and costly when they hide lost links, broken internal paths, or soft 404s. Sort first, fix in order, and leave the rest alone.
To talk through a clean-up for your own site, book a quick strategy call.
Are 404 errors bad for SEO?
Not by themselves. Google says missing pages do not harm the rest of your site’s rankings. They become a problem when the missing page had backlinks or traffic, or when internal links point to it.
What is a soft 404 error?
It is a page that shows a not-found message but returns a 200 status code. Google flags these in Search Console and leaves them out of the index. Return a real 404, or redirect to a relevant page.
How do I find 404 errors on my website?
Check the page indexing report in Google Search Console for URLs marked Not found (404). Then run a site crawler to catch broken internal links that Search Console may miss.
Should I redirect every 404 page to the homepage?
No. Blanket redirects often count as soft 404s and send visitors somewhere unrelated. Redirect only pages with links or traffic, and point them to the closest relevant page.
How do I fix 404 errors?
Update internal links first. Then 301 redirect pages that have backlinks or traffic to a close match, and leave pages that were removed on purpose as a 404 or 410.
Does a custom 404 page help SEO?
It helps visitors stay on your site, though it does not boost rankings directly. Make sure the page returns a real 404 status code, or Google may treat it as a soft 404.
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