A broken link is a link that leads to a page that no longer exists, and a 404 page is what visitors see when they land on one. You cannot avoid every 404, and a 404 is not always a problem. The goal is to fix the ones you cause, redirect pages that have genuinely moved, and make sure the error page helps people carry on.
Not every 404 needs fixing
Google’s Search Console documentation is reassuring here. A 404 means the page returned “not found” when requested. Google may have found the URL through a link elsewhere, or the page may have existed before and been deleted. The help page says a 404 is not always a problem: if you removed a page without a replacement, the 404 is expected. It advises fixing only the 404s you link to yourself or list in your sitemap, and using a 301 redirect when a page has moved. See the Page indexing report help.
Google’s crawling documentation adds that 4xx errors (other than 429) are treated the same: the content is considered nonexistent, a URL that was indexed is removed from the index, and newly found 404 URLs are not processed. Crawling of them gradually decreases. See HTTP status codes and network errors.
In practice that means a deleted page with no replacement and no internal links is fine as a 404. A broken link on your own pricing page is not.
Where broken links come from
- Pages deleted or renamed without a redirect.
- A redesign or migration that changed URL patterns. See how to plan a website redesign without losing SEO value for how to map old URLs to new ones before launch.
- Typos in manually entered links.
- Links to other sites that have since moved or closed.
- Old campaign, print or social links pointing at retired landing pages.
How to find them
- Search Console. The Page indexing report lists URLs Google found that returned 404 in the past month, which shows what Google keeps trying to reach.
- A site crawler. Run a desktop or hosted crawler across your own site and export every internal link that returns an error status. Include images, scripts and PDFs.
- Your analytics. Look for visits to your 404 page and the URLs that led there, which shows what real visitors tried to reach.
- Your sitemap. Every URL in your sitemap should return a success status. Any that do not should be fixed or removed from the sitemap.
- External links. If other sites link to a page you removed, a redirect preserves that visitor path.
Fix, redirect or leave
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Link on your page points to a typo or old URL | Correct the link at source |
| Page moved to a new URL | Permanent (301) redirect to the closest equivalent page |
| Page removed and nothing similar exists | Leave as 404 or 410 and remove internal links to it |
| Page is temporarily down | Fix the server issue rather than redirecting |
Redirect to the most relevant page, not automatically to the home page. A redirect that sends a request for a specific product to the home page frustrates visitors.
Beware the soft 404
A soft 404 happens when a page shows a “not found” message but returns a normal success status. Google’s documentation describes a soft 404 as a URL that returns a 2xx status while the content is effectively an error, such as an empty page or error message, and Search Console reports it as a soft 404. The fix on the Page indexing help page is to return a real 404 response for pages that are genuinely missing, or to add real content to pages that should exist.
This matters for your custom error page. Many content management systems and frameworks serve a friendly error template, and some serve it with a 200 status by mistake. Check the actual status code in your browser’s developer tools or a header checker, not just what the page looks like.
Designing a useful 404 page
The page should answer three questions: what happened, what can I do now, and where do I go next.
- Say plainly that the page was not found. Avoid jokes that hide the message.
- Keep the site navigation and branding so the visitor still feels they are on your site.
- Offer a search box if the site has search.
- Link to the most useful destinations: your main services, your contact page and popular content such as what makes a modern business website convert.
- Give a way to report the problem or simply to contact you.
- Keep it light. The page should load quickly and not depend on heavy scripts.
- Return the correct 404 status.
You do not need a clever illustration. A clear message and three helpful links outperform a funny page with no way out.
A simple maintenance routine
Check Search Console’s indexing report monthly, run a crawl after any major content change, and keep a redirect list when URLs change. If your site is built on a static framework, add a link check to the publishing process so broken internal links are caught before they go live. Astro versus WordPress discusses how build-based sites can make this kind of automated check easier.
Where Radiance Impact fits
Radiance Impact’s Technology division builds and maintains business websites, including redesigns and ongoing care. If you want a broken-link and error-page review, see /technology or contact us.
Sources
- Page indexing report: Not found (404) and Soft 404, Search Console Help
- How HTTP status codes, and network and DNS errors affect Google Search, Google Search Central
