SEO FAQ: Are 404 errors bad for SEO?
Have you ever been browsing online, followed a link, and been hit with a mostly empty page with the phrase “404 - Page Not Found”? Well, the good news is it’s not just you - finding a 404 error is experienced by pretty much every internet user out there. And it almost always elicits the same reaction - slight annoyance, and heading back to the previous page.
Now that reaction isn’t exactly what anyone would consider a positive user experience. And that is important to page ranking. So it begs the question - do 404 errors and broken links affect a site’s SEO? If so, how? And what can you do to fix them?
What is a 404 error, and what causes them?
A 404 error occurs when a user follows a URL and the page is “missing” - the page cannot be found. In other words, it’s a dead end. Related to this are broken links - these are hyperlinks that point to a page that doesn’t exist.
There are a few things can lead to a 404 error:
- The user has made some kind of mistake when entering the URL - perhaps a misspelled word.
- The page has been deleted from your store, and there isn’t a 301 redirect in place.
- The page has been moved elsewhere, again without a 301 redirect.
- Another website has linked to the page and either they’ve got the URL wrong or it has been deleted without a redirect.
As you can see, a 404 error can happen pretty easily. But could something that can be caused so simply affect or even harm your store’s SEO?
Do 404 errors hurt my store’s SEO?
In short, yes and no. According to Google, in most cases a 404 error won’t harm your site’s SEO and so long as it isn’t linked to, you can ignore it. Of course, the key there is that it isn’t linked to. If you post a link to social media with a typo, for example, and many people try to follow it then that could start to harm SEO. Or another similar example would be if another site links to a page that you’ve moved without a proper redirect. If there’s traffic to a broken link, you’ll want to fix it before it can harm your SEO.
The other aspect to the importance of 404 errors is the impact on user experience. When a user follows a broken link, it results in a poor experience. Your site isn’t meeting their performance expectations, and so they have a negative impression of your store. The more this happens, search engines start to take notice. This in turn can signal that your site isn’t providing a good user experience, and that can start to harm rankings.
What do I do if the content no longer exists on my store?
Sometimes, you’ll remove content from your site rather than moving it elsewhere. It might be that it’s out of date information that will end up confusing users who find it, or you’ve had a site restructure where that content is now obsolete. Whatever the case, should you redirect those URLs to avoid a 404 error?
The answer here is no, and Google actually prefers that you link to a 404 page. The key with 301 redirects is that you’re essentially serving the exact same content just at its new URL. Linking to something different isn’t what the user is looking for, so is an improper use of redirects which can be harmful for SEO.
How to quickly find and fix 404 errors
One of the most difficult parts of 404 management is actually finding them in the first place. If you have a site with hundreds or even thousands of products and pages, then it’s impossible to try to check every possible link. The fastest and easiest way to manage 404s and broken links is to use a tool like SEO Manager for Shopify.
One of the many features you’ll find in SEO Manager is an intuitive, real-time 404 tracker that will quickly pinpoint broken links and alert you. From here, you can decide what to do about it, whether that’s a fix, a redirect, or something else entirely. You can also export to CSV to correct these in bulk, then reupload to SEO Manager. This takes a time consuming process off your desk, and helps you maintain positive SEO and user experience.
Bonus: Make your 404 errors more helpful
In the spirit of making your site as useful as possible for users, you could also make your 404 pages more helpful. You can do this by adding some links to potentially relevant resources. These might include your FAQ, popular categories or products, your contact us page, or a sitemap. While it may not impact SEO directly, it may keep users on your site and turn them into customers.
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404 errors are an inevitable part of the ever-changing internet. Sites are updated, pages are moved, and content is removed. However, that doesn’t make them any less frustrating for users. By keeping on top of your 404 and broken link management, you can improve your site’s experience for potential customers and protect its SEO all at the same time.