Google Explains When to Fix 404 Errors

June 24, 2024 at 7:32:59 AM

TL;DR Gary Illyes from Google advises not to worry excessively about 404 errors. A 404 status code indicates a URL not mapped to a resource. URLs should either return content (200 status) or not. If a URL should return content, fix it promptly. If not, determine if it could be useful to users and consider mapping it to content, or if it's useless, leave it alone. Focus on fixing 404 errors that help users.

Gary Illyes from Google advises not to overly worry about 404 (Not Found) errors, as they are not always critical to fix. A 404 status code indicates that a URL on your server is not mapped to a resource. These can be categorized into two main buckets:

URLs That Should Return Content

These URLs should return a 200 status code but currently do not, possibly due to accidental deletion or database issues.
Fix these promptly, especially if they are important to users and your site.

URLs Not Supposed to Return Content

URLs That Could Be Useful to Users
- Consider mapping these URLs to relevant content on your site, possibly via redirection.
- Examples include broken links from high-traffic pages where users encounter a 404 error despite the existence of relevant content.
URLs That Are Absolutely Useless
- No action is needed for these URLs as they do not provide any value to users.
- Examples include off-site links to content you no longer offer.

In summary, focus on fixing 404 errors that will genuinely help users and improve their experience on your site.