If you visit a webpage and encounter an error message disrupting your search experience, your immediate reaction is likely disappointment you might close the tab and move on to another site.
For website owners, however, such errors can result in lost leads, reduced traffic, and a negative impact on business credibility.
One such error that often goes unnoticed but can significantly affect search engine rankings is the soft 404 error. Unlike a regular “Page Not Found” error, a soft 404 occurs when a page appears functional but fails to provide meaningful content, misleading both users and search engines. These errors can harm SEO and reduce website visibility.
Fixing soft 404 errors is a crucial part of technical SEO. However, identifying their root causes can be tricky, making it challenging for SEO professionals to resolve them effectively.
In this blog, we’ll dive into what soft 404 errors are, their causes, and the best strategies to fix them, ensuring a seamless user experience and better search engine performance.
What Is a Soft 404 Error?
A standard 404 error occurs when a requested page has been deleted or moved. When you try to access the URL, you receive a 404 Not Found message, indicating that the page no longer exists. Googlebot also recognizes this error and stops indexing the page.
However, a soft 404 error is different. In this case, the server incorrectly returns an HTTP 200 OK status instead of the appropriate 404 error code. This means that while the page appears to exist and load normally, it is actually invalid or empty.
In simple terms, even though the page is not useful, Googlebot receives a 200 OK response, signaling that the page is still active. As a result, search engines continue to crawl and index it, keeping it in search results unnecessarily.
Why Does a Soft 404 Occur?
A soft 404 error happens when:
- The page displays a “404 Not Found” message to users but does not send a 404 HTTP response to search engines.
- The page is empty or contains only partial content.
- There are outdated links, misspelled URLs, or server misconfigurations.
Why Does It Matter?
Google introduced the term soft 404 to alert webmasters about these misleading pages. Since Googlebot keeps crawling them, they can waste crawl budget, affect SEO, and lead to poor user experience.
To fix soft 404 errors, ensure that invalid pages return the correct 404 or 410 status code, or redirect them to relevant, active pages.
What Causes Soft 404 Errors?
Soft 404 errors can occur for various reasons. Below are some common causes:
- Pages with Little or No Content
When a page has minimal or no content, search engines may interpret it as invalid. Common examples include:- Empty blog posts
- Empty product pages
- Blank search result pages
- False Detection by Google
Sometimes, Google mistakenly flags a valid page as a soft 404, even when there’s nothing wrong with it. - Blocked JavaScript or CSS Files
If Google is unable to access your JS or CSS files, it may not render the page correctly, leading to a soft 404 error. - Temporary Crawling Issues
If Google encounters a temporary issue while crawling, some pages may fail to load, causing soft 404 errors. - Incorrect Redirects
When redirecting a page, ensure the destination URL is relevant. If the redirect leads to an unrelated or empty page, Google may classify it as a soft 404. - Empty Meta Tags
Setting up multiple meta tags and leaving one empty can create a blank page, triggering a soft 404 error. - 404-Related Phrases on the Page
If a page contains phrases commonly found on 404 error pages, Google may incorrectly categorize it as a soft 404.
To prevent soft 404 errors, ensure your pages are properly structured, contain useful content, and return the correct HTTP status codes when necessary.
How Do Soft 404 Errors Affect a Website?
Now that you understand what a soft 404 error is and its causes, let’s explore how it impacts your website.
A soft 404 error can negatively affect SEO performance. If your website has only a few soft 404 errors, it may not cause major issues. However, if multiple pages return soft 404s, it’s important to address them promptly.
The Impact of Soft 404 Errors
1. Wasted Crawl Budget
Google assigns each website a crawl budget, which consists of:
- Crawl Demand – How often Google crawls your site based on its relevance, popularity, and posting frequency.
- Crawl Rate – The number of requests Googlebot makes per second while crawling your site.
Since Googlebot doesn’t want to overload your website, it limits how many pages it crawls. If multiple pages return soft 404 errors, Google wastes its crawl budget on them instead of indexing important content. This slows down site crawling, affecting rankings and SEO efforts.
2. Poor User Experience
When visitors land on non-existent pages, they may feel frustrated and leave immediately. This can lead to:
- Higher bounce rates
- Lower user engagement
- Lost potential conversions
3. Potential Google Penalties
Google expects valid pages to return proper HTTP status codes. If your site consistently serves soft 404 errors, Google may assume you’re manipulating search results by serving fake error pages, potentially leading to a penalty.
4. Increased Bounce Rate
Users encountering soft 404 errors often leave the site within seconds, increasing the bounce rate. High bounce rates can signal to search engines that your site provides a poor user experience, impacting its rankings.
5. Website Performance Issues
While soft 404 pages don’t take up much server space, they consume bandwidth. Search engines directing traffic to non-existent pages still put a load on your site, slowing down performance and reducing overall efficiency.
Take Control of Your Website’s SEO
To prevent soft 404 issues from harming your site, make sure to:
- Return the correct HTTP status codes.
- Fix broken links and empty pages.
- Redirect irrelevant pages properly.
If you want to dive deeper into SEO best practices, check out our SEO course, where we cover both basic and advanced strategies to improve rankings and enhance brand visibility.
How to Find Soft 404 Errors
Detecting soft 404 errors is simple, and the most reliable method is using Google Search Console. Follow these steps to identify them:
- Register Your Website
- Sign up on Google Search Console and add your website to gain access to SEO tools.
- Access the Page Indexing Report
- Log in to Google Search Console and select your website.
- Click on Pages under the Indexing section.
- This report shows which pages are indexed and why others are not.
- Identify Soft 404 Errors
- Scroll down to the Page Indexing Report and look for Soft 404 errors and Not Found (404) errors.
- Click on the error description for details about the affected pages.
- Check Indexing Status
- If a 404 page is excluded, it means Google is not indexing it.
- If it appears as an error, it is still being indexed and needs attention.
- Use the URL Inspection Tool
- Enter a URL into the URL Inspection tool to check its HTTP status response code.
- This helps you confirm whether a page is valid, returning a soft 404, or another error.
Regularly monitoring Google Search Console helps you spot and fix soft 404 issues, ensuring better indexing and SEO performance.
How to Fix Soft 404 Errors
If your website has soft 404 errors, here are five effective solutions to fix them:
1. Set Up a Proper 404 or 410 Error
If a page is invalid or unavailable, ensure it returns the correct HTTP response code (404 or 410) and resubmit it to Google.
- 404 (Not Found): Tells search engines that the page doesn’t exist.
- 410 (Gone): Indicates that the page was intentionally removed.
Most Content Management Systems (CMS) allow you to configure these error codes easily. Additionally, consider designing a custom 404 page that:
Provides links to popular pages and the homepage.
Includes a search bar to help users find relevant content.
Enhances branding and user experience.
2. Verify If It’s a False Alarm
Sometimes, Google Search Console may mistakenly flag a valid page as a soft 404. To check:
- Hover over the URL and click “Open in a new tab” to confirm if it loads correctly.
- If the page is valid and should be indexed, click “Validate Fix” to request a recrawl.
- Use the URL Inspection tool to check its current status and request reindexing if needed.
Before requesting reindexing, click “Test Live URL” to refresh Google’s data without taking any action.
3. Redirect the Page Using a 301 Redirect
If you’ve moved or merged content, set up a 301 redirect to direct traffic from the old page to the new, relevant page.
- Most CMS platforms provide built-in redirect tools—simply enter the old and new URLs, and the system will handle the redirection.
- This ensures search engines index the correct pages while preserving SEO value.
4. Improve Content and Request Reindexing
Sometimes, Google misinterprets pages with thin or irrelevant content as soft 404 errors. If the page is important:
Enhance content with relevant details.
Avoid fluff—make the page engaging and valuable.
Add charts, images, and data-driven insights to boost credibility.
Once updated, resubmit the page to Google so it recognizes the page’s value and properly indexes it.
5. Keep the Page but De-index It from Search Engines
If you want to keep a page but prevent it from appearing in search results, use a Noindex directive.
- Add this tag in the page’s header: htmlCopyEdit
<meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow"/>- Alternatively, use a CMS plugin or tool to apply Noindex.
This tells Google not to index the page, moving it from the ERROR report to the excluded Soft 404 section in Search Console.
FAQs About Soft 404 Errors
1. What are soft 404 errors?
Soft 404 errors occur when a page appears to be “Not Found” for users but is not correctly communicated to search engine crawlers.
- Visitors see a “Page Not Found” message.
- Search engine bots receive a 200 OK status code instead of the correct 404 or 410 error, causing them to continue crawling and indexing the page.
- This wastes crawl budget and can impact SEO performance.
2. What is the difference between a Not Found (404) error and a Soft 404 error?
| Error Type | Response Code | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| 404 (Not Found) | 404 or 410 | The page doesn’t exist, and search engines stop indexing it. |
| Soft 404 | 200 OK | The page appears “Not Found” but is still indexed, which misleads search engines. |
A true 404 page is excluded from search results, while soft 404 errors may still appear in SERPs, causing indexing issues.
3. What is the difference between a Soft 404 and a Hard 404?
| Type | How It’s Communicated to Search Engines |
|---|---|
| Hard 404 | The server correctly returns a 404 error, telling bots the page doesn’t exist. |
| Soft 404 | The server incorrectly returns a 200 OK status, leading bots to keep crawling the page. |
4. Will fixing soft 404 errors increase website traffic?
Yes! Fixing soft 404 errors helps search engines focus on valid pages, leading to:
- More indexed pages in SERPs.
- Better crawl efficiency, reducing wasted crawl budget.
- Higher visibility and organic traffic over time.
5. Does Google penalize websites for soft 404 errors?
There is no direct penalty from Google for soft 404 errors. However, if unresolved, they can cause:
- Poor user experience (visitors land on useless pages).
- Lower rankings due to wasted crawl budget.
- Higher bounce rates, affecting SEO performance.
- Reduced visibility in search results over time.
To prevent these issues, monitor and fix soft 404 errors using Google Search Console.
Conclusion
A properly configured 404 error page informs both search engines and users that a page has been removed. However, if not set up correctly, it may result in a soft 404 error, which can negatively impact SEO, user experience, and website traffic.
To fix soft 404 errors, follow these best practices:
- Set up a 301 redirect for moved pages.
- Improve page content to make it valuable.
- Reindex the page to ensure search engines recognize updates.
- Use a proper 404 or 410 status code to prevent unnecessary indexing.
These quick fixes can improve website performance and SEO rankings.
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