404 Error Pages: What They Are and How to Fix Them for Better SEO (2025 Guide)

SEO Simplified: Why 404 Pages Matter to Your Business

As a business owner, understanding the nuances of your website is key to ensuring it serves its purpose effectively—connecting you with your customers and helping your business grow. But what happens when someone tries to visit a page on your website and it just isn't there? They encounter what's known as a 404 error page.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through what 404 errors are, why they matter for your SEO in 2025, and how to handle them effectively—including Martin Splitt from Google's recent advice that contradicts many outdated practices.

What Is a 404 Error Page?

A 404 error, often displayed as "404 not found," is what visitors see when they try to reach a page on your website that doesn't exist. This could be due to a deleted page, a mistyped URL, or the page being moved without a proper redirect. Though it may seem minor, the way you handle this 404 error can significantly impact the visitor's experience and their perception of your brand.

Example of a standard 404 error page that provides minimal user guidance

Technically speaking, a 404 is an HTTP status code that indicates the server holding the website can find the domain but cannot locate the specific page requested. It's one of many status codes that servers use to communicate with browsers, but it's perhaps the most commonly encountered by everyday users.

Why 404 Pages Are Important for SEO

Imagine walking into a store looking for something specific, but instead of finding what you need, you find a wall. No directions, no help—just a wall. That's how customers feel when they hit a dead-end 404 page. A well-designed 404 page can turn that frustration into a positive interaction by guiding them to useful resources or back to your homepage.

Here's why 404 errors matter for your SEO strategy in 2025:

1. User Experience Impacts Rankings: Search engines like Google increasingly use user experience metrics as ranking factors. When users quickly bounce from a 404 page, it signals poor user experience.
2. Crawl Budget Efficiency: Search engines allocate a limited "crawl budget" to each website. When crawlers repeatedly hit 404 pages, they waste this budget that could be better spent indexing your valuable content.
3. Link Equity Preservation: When pages with inbound links return 404 errors, you lose the SEO value those links provided. Proper handling of these situations can preserve this equity.
4. Brand Perception: How you handle errors reflects on your brand's attention to detail and care for customer experience, which indirectly affects SEO through engagement metrics.

Google's Current Approach to 404 Errors (2025 Update)

In a recent enlightening discussion, Martin Splitt from Google shared valuable insights on managing 404 error pages. He advises against the common practice of redirecting all 404 pages to the homepage. Here are the key takeaways:

• 404 Pages Have a Purpose: They notify users and search engines that the content they are looking for isn't available, which is clearer than unexpectedly sending them to the homepage.
• Use Redirects Wisely: If the content has moved, direct users to its new location. If it's gone, provide a straightforward 404 page, which is more helpful than a confusing redirect.

This approach enhances site navigation and bolsters your site's SEO integrity by avoiding misleading redirects that can frustrate visitors and confuse search engines. For anyone keen on refining their SEO strategies, diving deeper into this topic could be incredibly beneficial.

How to Find 404 Errors on Your Website

Before you can fix 404 errors, you need to identify them. Here are the most effective tools for discovering 404 errors on your site:

1. Google Search Console

Google Search Console provides a coverage report that identifies pages with 404 errors that Google has attempted to crawl. This is especially valuable because it shows you 404 errors that are actually affecting your Google search presence.

2. Website Crawling Tools

Tools like Screaming Frog, Semrush, or Ahrefs can crawl your website and identify all internal links that lead to 404 pages. This helps catch errors before users or search engines encounter them.

3. Web Analytics

Google Analytics can be configured to track 404 error pages. By setting up custom reporting, you can see how many users are hitting these pages and from where they're coming.

4. Server Logs

For a comprehensive analysis, review your server logs to see all instances where your server returned a 404 status code, including those from bots and crawlers that analytics might not capture.

Designing a User-Friendly 404 Page

Here are tips on how to make your 404 page not just a dead end, but a useful part of your website:

1. Keep It Simple

Avoid overwhelming your visitors with too much information or technical jargon. A clear and simple message stating the page they are looking for can't be found is sufficient.

2. Inject Some Humor or Creativity

If it fits your brand, a bit of humor can lighten the mood. A clever message or a funny image related to your business can turn a potentially negative experience into a memorable one.

3. Maintain Your Branding

Include your logo, color scheme, and any other familiar branding elements. This reassures visitors they're still dealing with your business.

4. Include a Search Bar

Adding a search bar to your 404 page gives visitors an easy way to find what they were looking for without having to backtrack.

5. Provide Useful Links

Include links to your homepage, popular products, recent articles, or the contact page. This helps guide users back to relevant areas of your site.

Five Effective Ways to Fix 404 Errors

Now that you've identified your 404 errors and designed a user-friendly error page, here's how to address the underlying issues:

1. Moving a Page or Directory

As you add pages to your site, there's a chance they end up in the wrong folder. This fix is simple — you just need to check the pathway to the page you want to access and compare it with what's in your file transfer protocol (FTP) service or content management system (CMS).

If the location doesn't match, move it accordingly and try accessing the page again.

Sometimes, the folder could be the issue instead of the page. If you move a folder that contains multiple pages, all the individual pages' URLs will change. You need to account for these changes and update the URLs as needed.

2. Using Redirects

If you need to move a page to another location, implement a 301 redirect to prevent the page from crashing to a 404. A 301 redirect tells the Internet and Google that your page has moved permanently to a new URL. This redirect will send users from the old page to the new one.

Let's say you have individual product pages, but you want to move them under one parent page, which changes the URLs. You don't want users to bounce from the product page. Adding a redirect to the new location can improve UX and help SEO by helping search engines index your site and pages.

3. Restoring Deleted Pages

You might notice that old or deleted content is receiving a lot of traffic, leading to 404s. Using your CMS or website analytics, you can see what pages are getting traffic and, if possible, reboot the URL to capture that traffic and prevent 404s.

Say that you wrote a blog post on a trending industry topic. However, you later rewrote or combined the content with another page, so you delete the first link. In that case, you could still get traffic for a page that doesn't exist.

In that case, it may be best to revive the page and create a page worth viewing. This step will help with SEO and boost your keyword targeting and UX.

4. Leaving Error Pages for Low-Performing Content

Sometimes, leaving an error page can help with SEO. If you have low-performing content, leaving an error page can tell Google that you removed it and are focused on improving your site.

It's normal for sites to have 404 pages that tell users what to do next. Adding these pages can help search engine crawlers and keep people on your site for longer, even when they hit the 404. A 404 page can contain links to other recommended pages. For example, a franchise site might link to its individual locations.

5. Looking for Broken Links

Often, a 404 error can be as simple as a broken or mistyped link.

Finding and removing a broken link can prevent unnecessary 404s and help clean up your internal linking. Tools like Ahrefs make it easy to account for all your links.

404s are part of owning a website. Regardless of how you choose to handle them, making sure you give your users and search engines the best experience possible will serve you best in the long run.

Managing 404 Errors with Google Search Console

Another practical step in managing your 404 errors involves using Google Search Console to remove URLs that you no longer use and that generate 404 errors. Here's how you can deindex these URLs effectively:

1. Log into Google Search Console: Access your account where you can see your website's performance and issues.
2. Use the Removals Tool: Navigate to the "Removals" section under the "Index" menu. Here, you can temporarily hide URLs from Google search results. This is particularly useful if you have deleted a page and want to ensure it doesn't appear in search results, leading to a 404 error page.
3. Permanent Removal: If you need to permanently remove a URL (and ensure it doesn't just get hidden temporarily), you need to ensure the page returns a 404 or 410 HTTP status code, then use the Removals tool to expedite its removal from Google's index.
4. Monitor Your Coverage: Keep an eye on the "Coverage" report to track how these changes affect your site's indexing and identify any other potential issues.

Using Google Search Console not only helps clean up your site's indexing but also improves the user experience by preventing visitors from landing on non-existent pages.

This proactive approach in handling 404 errors through Google Search Console can significantly enhance site navigation and reduce user frustration, making your site more efficient and user-friendly.

Checklist for Your 404 Page

Here's a quick checklist to ensure your 404 page is effectively set up:

• Creative and engaging on-brand message
• Search bar for easy navigation
• Links to home, contact page, and other useful resources
• Brand elements like logos and matching colors
• Option to report a broken link or missing page

Why Redirects Matter

Handling redirects properly is crucial. If a page has moved, setting up a 301 redirect to the new page helps preserve search rankings and provides a seamless user experience. If the content is gone forever, a custom 404 page that helps users find alternative content can prevent frustration and bounce backs.

Contrary to outdated advice, don't redirect all 404 pages to your homepage. As Martin Splitt from Google emphasized, this creates confusion for both users and search engines. Users expect to find specific content, not to be unexpectedly sent to your homepage without explanation.

Tracking and Analyzing 404 Errors

Don't set your 404 page and forget it. It's important to:

1. Monitor 404 errors: Use tools like Google Analytics to track how often your 404 page is showing up. This can help you identify broken links or areas of your site that need attention.
2. Regularly update redirects: Ensure that any changes to your site structure include updates to your redirect rules.
3. Fix broken links: Regular audits of your website can help minimize the occurrence of 404 errors.

Conclusion: Making Every Page Count

A well-crafted 404 page is more than just an error message; it's an opportunity to engage with your customers positively. By ensuring your 404 page is helpful, you're showing that you care about your customers' experience on your site, even when things don't go as planned.

Remember, every part of your website, including your 404 page, reflects your business. Make it count!

By following the advice in this guide—particularly the updated recommendations from Google's Martin Splitt about avoiding homepage redirects for all 404 errors—you'll create a more user-friendly website that both visitors and search engines will appreciate.

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This article was last updated in March 2025 to reflect the latest best practices in managing 404 errors for optimal SEO performance.

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