Google Addresses Ranking Drops Linked to 404 Errors

Google's Gary Illyes stated that fake 404s that Googlebot might've crawled cannot be reasonably attributed to a ranking drop. He explained that it's normal for a site to have any number of 404 errors and there is usually no need to fix them. However, if analytics show that a significant number of real users are encountering these 404 URLs, he suggests trying to convert them by showing relevant content instead.

To diagnose 404 errors generated by actual users, check if the URL the site visitors are trying to reach closely resembles an actual URL on your site. This could indicate that someone has misspelled a URL. The recommended action is to create a redirect from the misspelled URL to the correct one.

To check for vulnerabilities that might be indicated by 404 errors, you can:

• Use phpMyAdmin to view your database tables, particularly the section for users, to see if there’s an unrecognized user.
• If your site is hosted on WordPress, use a security plugin like Jetpack Protect, Sucuri, or Wordfence to scan for vulnerable themes or plugins. Jetpack Protect is a free vulnerability scanner, while Sucuri and Wordfence offer both free and premium versions with additional protection.