Soft 404 Errors: What They Are, Why They Hurt SEO, and How to Fix Them

Not every customer wishes to see an SEO soft 404 error page upon loading a website, but it can happen. For customers, this means closing the link and switching to another site, but for the specific brands? Loss of a valuable lead that might convert.

When it comes to page-not-found errors, 404 is the most common one we are familiar with. However, there’s a different variation known as a SEO soft 404. Despite the variation, they are capable of harming your search engine rankings, website traffic, and even credibility. This blog explains all the things you need to know about the soft 404 SEO issue, how it affects SEO and the strategies by which you can rectify it.

What Is a Soft 404 Error?

To understand the soft 404 page meaning, you must have a clear idea about the standard 404 error. When this error is shown to the users, it indicates the page has been either removed or relocated. This is why when you try to load the page, you can’t see it. Googlebot also knows that this particular page doesn’t exist, therefore, it will not index that page. In many cases, these soft 404s occur when Google crawled but not indexed the page due to low-quality or missing content, even though it technically returns a 200 status code.

So, what is a soft 404?

It is a situation in which the site displays a Page Not Found error, and the server instead returns an HTTP status code 200 OK message rather than the 404 error code. This means that the page exists and isn’t missing. Since the page is there, search engines continue to crawl and index it, showing it in search results. The reason behind this is that the error is displayed to the site users but not the search engine crawlers. Using a Google crawler test can help confirm how your site handles these responses behind the scenes.

Hard 404 vs Soft 404 Errors

The differences between regular 404 and soft 404 errors lie in the status they display to search engines. While a hard 404 error page tells visitors that the page doesn’t exist, a soft 404 error results in users seeing a “page not found” message. However, the search engines receive a 200 OK status from the server. This confuses search engines and potentially affects indexing.

In the event of a hard 404 error, the page doesn’t exist, and it is told to the users, whereas in the case of SEO soft 404, the page exists but is not shown due to certain issues. Hence, by showing a page not found situation, it can mislead users with irrelevant or blank content.

Reasons for Soft 404 Errors

The reasons for Soft 404 Errors cannot be pinpointed to a single cause, but they arise from a variety of factors. Here we list some of them below:

• Thin content: Webpages having either minimal or irrelevant content result in soft 404s. Some examples are empty blog pages, product pages, and empty search result pages.

• Crawling issues: If there are any sort of crawling issues with certain pages, they might not load correctly, resulting in Page not found error, despite existing.

• Incorrect Redirects: If your site has webpages that need to be deleted or redirected, make sure those pages are displayed with the hard 404 error code, or they are redirected to a relevant page. Otherwise, Google displays a soft 404 error code. Minimising redirects is essential, as an excessive number can lead to redirect chains SEO. You can learn more about it right here.

• Server Configurations: Improper server configurations can show webpages that are either blank or have irrelevant content. This leads to a soft 404 error instead of a hard one.

Analysing the SEO impact of 404 error

As told in the introduction section, SEO soft 404 errors have a profound negative effect on your long-term SEO. Ignoring this issue results in significant negative outcomes. Some of them are listed below:

• Crawl budget wastage: Depending on website size, content value, performance, etc, Google sets a limited crawling budget. If you have a large site and some of its pages display a soft 404 error, Googlebot spends time crawling and re-crawling those pages, which wastes the budget that could have been used to discover valuable content.

• Potential indexation issues: When search engines crawl sites, they expect to index valuable content. However, upon encountering a 200 status code, this leads to indexing thin or non-existent pages.

• Drop in search engine rankings: Having too many soft 404 SEO issues isn’t good, and Google penalises such sites, indicating bad content quality and poor site management. This leads to lower search engine rankings.

How to fix 404 errors

You now have the reasons for soft 404 errors. Now it’s time to learn how to resolve them. But where to find soft 404 errors? You can pinpoint them by logging into Google Search Console soft 404 and linking your domain.

Navigate to “Pages” in the Index section and click on the “Not indexed” tab.

Source:

By clicking on the soft 404 under “Reasons”, you can view the list of all URLs that triggered this error.

Source:

Check why the URLs are returning this error, and once the reasons for Soft 404 errors are identified, take the right action to fix the issue. Apart from Google Search Console soft 404, you can leverage other SEO Audit Tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, Screaming Frog, Moz, etc, to detect soft 404 errors.

Now that you have the answer to where to find Soft 404 errors, let’s check out some of the best soft 404 error fix strategies.  

Set Up a 301 Redirect

You know that inconsistent redirects can result in soft 404 errors. If you are planning to move content around on your site, set up a 301 redirect as it indicates a permanent redirect from the old URL to the new one. Most of the CMSs available today have built-in redirect tools. Simply input the old and new URLs, and traffic will automatically redirect.

Replace Thin Content

Want to know how to fix 404 errors? Enhance the thin, less meaningful content on your site with valid, quality information. Web pages with minimal or absent substantive content frequently result in soft 404 errors. Even an empty page can be flagged as a soft 404 by search engines if it technically exists but lacks substantial information. Try creating content that matches the user’s intent.

Check for Internal Broken Links

Another soft 404 error fix is to update any broken links that exist on your site. Sometimes, a soft 404 error can occur due to this issue, therefore, it is important to check for broken links by conducting a link audit using third-party tools. Leveraging techniques such as breadcrumbs is useful for visitors as it improves navigation.

Create a customized 404 page

This is another soft 404 error fix worth the shot. Despite our best efforts, sometimes this error can occur. By creating a well-designed 404 error page, the issue can be mitigated. This involves displaying a friendly message to the visitor when they encounter the problem. Other tactics involve providing users with necessary navigational links to other key areas of your site. Also, make sure you have added a noindex tag so that search engines won’t index that page.

Winding Up

So, have you understood the soft 404 page meaning and how it impacts SEO? There is no doubt that soft 404 errors impact your search engine rankings and visibility unless they are resolved. Even though they might look insignificant, Google can penalise your site for having them. Therefore, if you wish to stay clear of these and improve your site’s SEO, it is crucial to identify any soft 404 errors and rectify them with our professional expertise.

At GTECH Information Technology, our team takes great care in formulating result-oriented marketing strategies that do wonders for your brand growth. You get to learn what a soft 404 is, and how it affects your website, and a lot more. Connect with us today and discover your possibilities by exploring our top-notch search engine optimization services in Dubai, UAE.