Google's John Mueller Clarifies 404 & 410 Confusion For SEO

According to Google's John Mueller, the difference between 404 and 410 status codes is negligible for SEO. Both indicate that a page is no longer present on a website, with a 404 status code signaling that a page is missing and a 410 status code indicating that a page has been permanently removed. In terms of SEO impact, Google treats these codes similarly, and neither results in penalties. The pages will be dropped from the index when these status codes are used.

No, Google does not penalize websites for 404 status codes. John Mueller clarified that while pages with a 404 status code will drop out of the index, they do not incur penalties from Google. This means that website owners should not worry about penalties when a page cannot be found, but they should still manage these status codes appropriately to maintain a clean and user-friendly site structure.

Removing AI-generated content from a website can be a step towards recovery in search rankings, especially if the content is of low quality or does not comply with Google's guidelines. John Mueller's advice suggests that by eliminating such content and adhering to best practices, website owners can work towards regaining their search engine visibility. The recovery process also involves creating valuable content, improving overall site performance, and following SEO best practices.