If you’re a business owner or in charge of your organisation’s Marketing and Website performance, Technical SEO can seem like a scary, ambiguous, and overwhelming topic.
There are many aspects to it, but if you focus on one area at a time, and understand some of the crucial errors to avoid, you can be confident that your website is bringing in as many potential customers as possible.
This post focuses on one of the most damaging errors: the dreaded 404 (“page not found”) error.
Whilst they can be catastrophic – at their worst it can be just like pouring money down the drain – they are actually quite easy to understand and avoid. Or if they do happen, they are easy to spot and correct.
What is a 404 error?
This error occurs when a user attempts to visit a page on your website that no longer exists, resulting in a “Page Not Found” message. While this might seem like a minor inconvenience, 404 errors can have far-reaching consequences, such as a reduction in sales and permanent damage to your website’s search engine rankings or traffic.
How 404 errors happen
404s happen in a number of different ways.
Deleted or moved content: When a page or file on your site is removed or relocated without updating links, the browser will try to access the old URL and fail.
URL changes: If you change the URL structure of one of your webpages without proper redirects, it can lead to 404 errors.
User error: A user might accidentally type a URL incorrectly, causing the server to return a 404. (this is not really something you can prevent and it isn’t an issue either)
When 404s matter
Whilst you should generally try and avoid creating 404 errors, not all 404s are equally harmful. The situations when they are a serious problem are when they come up for high traffic pages and high ranking pages.
High-traffic pages: If a page with significant traffic or backlinks receives a 404 error, it’s essential to fix it promptly to preserve the value those links and visitors bring. Imagine the page is one of your best-performing product pages.
For some businesses that page could be bringing in thousands of dollars in sales every day. Then all of a sudden the page is gone due to a staff member unwittingly making one of the mistakes above.
All of those potential customers are still clicking on the links from Google or other websites, only to reach a dead end and not make it to your site at all!
High-ranking pages in search engines: Pages that perform well in search engines and bring organic traffic can lose their rankings if they are left to return a 404 error for too long.
If this happens on a regular basis, the overall rankings of your website start to drop. Searchers become more likely to find your competitor’s websites instead of yours.
When they don’t matter so much
Low-traffic or unimportant pages: If the page doesn’t generate significant traffic or SEO value, you might not need to prioritise fixing it immediately.
Pages with no backlinks: If there are no inbound links or mentions of a page elsewhere on the web, a 404 might not negatively impact your site’s overall SEO health.
Understanding when a 404 error truly matters versus when it’s a low priority is key to managing them effectively. But a good process will ideally minimise them all.
How to find and fix 404 errors
Finding 404 errors on your website is essential for maintaining a healthy site. Several tools and methods can help you identify these issues:
Google Search Console: Google Search Console is one of the most effective tools for discovering 404 errors. It provides reports on crawl errors, showing you which pages Googlebot is unable to access.
Website Crawlers: Tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, and SEMrush can crawl your site and identify broken links, including 404 errors. These crawlers simulate the way search engine bots access your website, helping you pinpoint 404s.
Once you’ve identified a 404 error, there are several ways to resolve it. The best approach will depend on the specific situation:
Redirects: If a page has moved to a new location, you should set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. This ensures that both users and search engines are automatically sent to the correct page, preserving search engine rankings.
Depending on your content management system, 301 redirects can be very easy to do, or quite complicated. If your website is on WordPress or Squarespace for example, it’s as simple as adding a plugin, inputting the old URL and then the new URL to send users to. Other systems can require the help of your IT team or developers.
Restore Deleted Content: If a page was unintentionally deleted and it holds value (e.g., traffic, or backlinks), you should restore it as quickly as possible. This is particularly important for high-ranking or link-heavy pages.
Fix Internal Links: If internal links on your site lead to 404 pages, update them to point to the correct or most relevant page.
A Complication to Be Aware Of: Too many redirects, especially chains of redirects (e.g., URL A redirects to URL B, which redirects to URL C), can slow down your site and negatively impact SEO. Be sure to keep redirects as direct and clean as possible.
Process to Preempt 404 Errors
The best way to handle 404 errors is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Here are some proactive steps to reduce the risk of 404s:
Regularly Audit Your Site: Make it a habit to audit your website periodically using tools like Google Search Console to identify any new 404 errors that may have crept up.
Update URLs with Care: When making structural changes to your website or renaming URLs, always ensure that proper 301 redirects are in place. Also, be cautious when deleting or moving content, especially if it’s receiving organic traffic or valuable backlinks.
Have a webpage deletion process: Ensure all team members are aware that whenever an old page is deleted, a redirect needs to be added.
Keep your website running smoothly
Fixing 404 errors is an important part of tech SEO that should not be overlooked. These errors can damage your site’s user experience, SEO performance, and overall website sales.
Understanding how they happen, how to find them, and how to fix them can minimise their impact and keep your website running smoothly.
At Whippet Digital we are happy to advise on your website’s technical performance, and often find and fix 404 errors for our clients. For more information read about our Technical SEO services
