Soft 404 and Not found (404): what they mean and how to fix them

Google’s Page indexing report describes it as a page whose request returns what Google thinks is a soft 404 response: the page says it loaded successfully and reads as though it is missing. Google leaves it out of the index.

Four kinds of page are reported this way.

• A page with almost nothing on it: a heading, a line of text, an empty template.
• A category, tag or search page with no items in it.
• A page that shows a “not found” or “out of stock” message while answering as a normal page.
• Many old addresses redirected to the home page, which Google reads as pages that no longer exist.

The fix depends on what the page should be.

1. If the page should exist, give it enough real content to stand as a page.
2. If the page is gone and has a replacement, redirect it to that replacement with a permanent redirect.
3. If the page is gone for good, let the server answer with a real 404. Google’s guidance for this status is to return a 404 for pages that are truly not found.

The neighbouring status is the honest one: Google asked for an address and the server said it does not exist. Google’s note is brief: if the page has moved, use a permanent redirect to the new location.

Many 404s need nothing. An address that was mistyped by another website, or a page deliberately deleted with nothing to replace it, should answer 404.

Fix the ones that cost something.

• Pages that used to bring visitors. Search Console’s Performance report for an earlier period shows which.
• Pages that other websites link to.
• Pages your own site still links to. Those links should be updated as well.

Redirect each to its closest replacement, one to one. Sending them all to the home page turns real 404s into soft ones. Redirects in general are covered in page with redirect, and the full list of statuses in why your website is not showing up on Google.