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Can 404 and soft 404s errors affect your Google search rankings?
According to Google, the answer is no.
However, there is an exception you will want to know about, in order to avoid having a 404 error impact your rankings. Read on to learn more.
The Claim: 404 & Soft 404 Errors are a Ranking Factor
What are 404 errors? 404 errors occur when a user or search crawler tries to access a page that does not appear to exist on a domain. 404 errors happen when:
- A page is deleted from your website without a 301 redirect.
- Someone makes a mistake typing the page URL into their browser’s address bar.
- Another website links to an incorrect URL.
In addition to traditional 404 errors, some pages cause soft 404s.
A soft 404 occurs when a website returns a 200 success code from the server, but a “404 page not found” simultaneously for a user.
The page either doesn’t exist or portions of the main content didn’t load completely.
The Evidence Against 404 & Soft 404s as Ranking Factors
In 2011, Susan Moskwa, Webmaster Trends Analyst, published a series of questions and answers about 404s on the Google Search Central Blog. The short answer to that first question, do 404 errors affect my site’s rankings, was no.
“The fact that some URLs on your site no longer...
Read Full Story: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ranking-factors/404-errors-google/
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