What is a Soft 404 and what causes them?

Technical SEO at Ahrefs

June 3, 20232 min read

8 Linking websitesArticle performance data from Ahrefs

A soft 404 error is a specific type of issue that occurs when a web page appears to be missing or broken to users, but the server incorrectly reports that the page is functioning properly. Instead of returning a standard "404 Not Found" status code, it returns a "200 OK" status code.

Here's a breakdown:

Standard 404 Error: When a page is truly missing, the server sends a 404 status code, indicating that the page doesn't exist and should not be indexed by search engines.
Soft 404 Error: The page appears to be "not found" or "out of stock" to users, but the server returns a 200 OK status code. This signals to search engines that the page is valid and can be crawled and potentially indexed.

Why are soft 404 errors problematic?

Confuse Search Engines: Soft 404s send mixed signals to search engines, leading to potential indexing issues and wasted crawl budget. Google might spend time crawling and processing these low-value pages instead of discovering valuable content on your site.
Poor User Experience: Users who land on soft 404 pages may find the content irrelevant or non-existent, leading to frustration and increased bounce rates. This can negatively impact your site's SEO and potentially deter users from returning.
Wasted Resources: Search engines waste time crawling and indexing these unproductive pages, which can affect your site's overall crawl efficiency and indexing process.

Common causes of soft 404 errors include:

Thin or low-quality content: Pages with very little or irrelevant content can be flagged as soft 404s.
Incorrect redirects: Redirecting deleted pages to irrelevant content or the homepage can confuse search engines.
Server misconfigurations: Your server might be incorrectly configured to return a 200 OK status for missing pages.
Empty search results pages or category pages: If your website's search or category pages return "no results found" but still give a 200 status code, they can be interpreted as soft 404s.

How to find and fix soft 404 errors:

Google Search Console: Use the Coverage report to identify pages flagged as "Submitted URL seems to be a Soft 404".
Improve content: If a page is flagged due to thin content, add more valuable and relevant information to it.
Set up proper redirects: Use 301 redirects for permanently moved pages, directing users to the correct URL.
Configure server response codes: Ensure your server returns a proper 404 or 410 status code for missing pages.
De-index unwanted pages: If a page isn't intended for indexing, use the 'noindex' directive to prevent search engines from crawling and indexing it.
Regularly audit your website: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to identify soft 404 errors and address them promptly.

Post byPatrick Stox

Patrick Stox is an independent SEO consultant. Former Product Advisor, Technical SEO, and Brand Ambassador at Ahrefs. Before that he was a Technical SEO at IBM for many years, worked at an agency, had his own consultancy, and was in-house at a B2B company. A long time ago he started his career as a developer.

He’s an organizer for the Triangle SEO Meetup, the Tech SEO Connect conference, he runs a Technical SEO Slack group, and is a moderator for /r/TechSEO on Reddit.

Patrick was the lead author for the SEO chapter of the 2021 Web Almanac and reviewer for the 2022 chapter. He helped define the role of Search Marketing Strategist for the US Department of Labor. He also co-wrote the SEO Book For Beginners by Ahrefs and was the Technical Review Editor for The Art of SEO 4th Edition.

He’s spoken at 100+ industry events including Pubcon, SMX, Tech SEO Boost, Ad World, Digital Summit, and many more. He’s written 100+ articles for industry sites like Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, MarTech, and right here at Ahrefs. He was a finalist for SEO Speaker of the Year and SEO Contributor of the Year at the 2018 Search Engine Land Awards. He was also an EzineArticles Platinum author back in the day and still has the mug to prove it.

Patrick has judged nearly a dozen search awards for multiple years including the US Search Awards, UK Search Awards, and Interactive Marketing Awards. He participated in and documented the world’s largest SEO contest to date, the Wix SEO Hero contest which he arguably should have won.

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