404 Unable to find (Not found)

What is 404 Not Found?

HTTP status code 404 Not Found indicates that the server cannot find the requested page or resource. This usually occurs when:

• Content does not exist
• the content has been moved to a new address
• content removed
• server cannot locate the requested resource

Sometimes a server can restore a 404 error even though the site exists, in order to hide its existence. If you are sure that the site exists, then it is necessary to check the authorization and access rights.

Error 404 belongs to 4xx series HTTP status codes, where:

• “4” denotes a fault on the client side
• “xx” are additional figures that provide more information on the status of the application

Examples of 404 pages

Pages showing 404 errors are often customised, so the layout differs from page to page. They usually contain the tag “404”, “Error 404” or “Page not found” and inform the visitor that the requested page does not exist.

Some site owners even use humor, illustrations or personalized messages, for example athletes like Lionel Messi or Novak Djokovic joke on their 404 pages. Each page can shape its 404 page according to the style and audience it wants to reach.

Hard 404 vs Soft 404

• Hard 404: server restores the status code 404, clearly signaling that the site does not exist.
• Soft 404: server restores status 200 OK, but the site does not actually contain the requested content.

Soft 404 pages can confuse visitors and search engines and negatively affect SEO because they can cause problems with duplicate content and unnecessary spending of crawl budget search engines.

Consequences of 404 errors

1. Poor user experience Visitors expect the site to exist at the requested address. Frequent 404 errors can cause frustration and abandonment of the site.
2. Non-indexed pages If search engines often encounter 404 pages, they can spend a crawl budget on unimportant URLs, which prevents important content from indexing.
3. URL de-indexation Google and other search engines can remove pages that return 404 errors after several checks.
4. Loss of link equity Backlinks that lead to a 404 page do not convey the authority of the page, which reduces the SEO value.
5. Loss of revenue Visitors who encounter 404 errors can leave the site or not perform the desired action (purchase, login), which directly affects revenue.

How to Solve 404 Mistakes

1. Correct URL If the link on your page is wrong, replace it with the correct one.
2. Redirect URL If the page has moved or you can't change the URL, use 301 redirect (continuous redirection) or 302 redirect (temporarily).
3. Add content to URL If the page previously contained content, you can return it. If not, create relevant content for that URL so that visitors get the right information, not a 404 page.

• 200 OK - server response
• 301 Redirect
• 302 Redirect
• 304 Not Modified
• 307 Temporary Redirect