404 Error

What is a 404 Error?

A 404 error means the user reached your server, but the specific page they asked for doesn't exist. This usually happens because:

1. The user typed the URL incorrectly.
1. The page was deleted.
1. The page URL was changed without a redirect.

Is it Bad for SEO?

Contrary to popular belief, 404 errors rarely hurt your site's overall ranking. Google expects pages to vanish; it's a natural part of the web.

However, it IS bad if:

1. You have backlinks to that page: You are wasting "link juice" that is hitting a dead end.
1. It's a high-traffic page: Users landing on a 404 usually leave immediately (bounce), which is a bad user signal.
1. Soft 404s: You serve a page that says "Not Found" but sends a 200 OK status code. This confuses Google.

How to Handle 404s Correctly

1. The Custom 404 Page

Don't use the default browser error. Create a helpful custom 404 page that includes:

• A search bar.
• Links to your best content.
• A way to contact support.
• Some humor/branding to reduce frustration.

2. When to 301 Redirect

• Do: Redirect if you have a similar page to send them to (e.g., "Red Shoes" deleted -> redirect to "Shoes Category").
• Don't: Redirect everything to the Homepage. That frustrates users and counts as a "Soft 404" to Google. If the content is gone and has no replacement, a 404 (or 410 Gone) is the correct status.

What is a "Soft 404"?

A Soft 404 occurs when your server returns a standard "Success" code (200 OK) for a page that doesn't really exist (e.g., an empty category page or a page saying "Sorry, no results").

Google hates this because it wastes crawl budget on empty pages. You must ensure your server actually sends the 404 HTTP header, not just text on the screen.

How to Audit with Mygom

Mygom checks links on your page to ensure none of them point to 404s ("Broken Links"). Fixing internal broken links is low-hanging fruit for improving user experience.