410 Gone

What is a 410 Error?

A 410 Gone is a "harder" version of a 404 Not Found error. Both indicate that the requested page does not exist, but they communicate different things to search engines:

• 404 Not Found: "I cannot find this right now. Maybe it is misplaced or temporarily unavailable."
• 410 Gone: "This content existed but has been permanently deleted. It will never return."

The 410 status code is defined in the HTTP specification as a way to indicate intentional, permanent removal.

Why Use a 410 Instead of 404?

1. Faster De-indexing

When you delete a page and return a 404, Google keeps the URL in its index for a while. It will re-crawl the URL periodically to check if the content returns — maybe it was an accident or temporary issue.

A 410 tells Google: "This deletion was intentional. Remove it from the index immediately." Google respects this signal and de-indexes 410 pages faster than 404 pages.

2. Crawl Budget Efficiency

Every time Googlebot revisits a 404 page to check if it is back, it uses part of your crawl budget. With a 410, Google stops checking sooner, freeing up crawl budget for your active pages.

3. Clear Communication

A 410 is unambiguous. It removes any doubt about whether the page might return, which is helpful when you need to clean up your site architecture definitively.

When to Use a 410

Hacked or Spam Pages

If malware created spam pages on your site, use 410 to tell Google these were not legitimate content and should be removed immediately.

Discontinued Products

For products you will never sell again and do not want appearing in search results, 410 is appropriate. However, if the product category still exists, consider redirecting to the category page instead.

Legal Removals

Content taken down due to copyright claims (DMCA), court orders, or legal requirements should return 410 to ensure fast removal from search results.

Duplicate Content Cleanup

If you are consolidating duplicate pages and want the old URLs fully removed (not redirected), 410 signals permanent removal.

Expired Events or Promotions

Time-limited content that will never be relevant again (past events, expired contests) can use 410.

When NOT to Use a 410

Temporary Unavailability

If the content might return, use 404 or even 503 (Service Unavailable). 410 is permanent.

Content That Should Redirect

If you have a new version of the content, use a 301 redirect instead of 410. You want to transfer the SEO value to the new page.

Important Pages with Backlinks

If the deleted page has valuable backlinks, redirect those links to a relevant page rather than returning 410 and losing link equity.

How to Implement a 410

Apache (.htaccess)

# Single page
Redirect 410 /deleted-page.html

# Pattern matching
RedirectMatch 410 ^/old-section/.*$

Nginx

location = /deleted-page.html {
    return 410;
}

location /old-section/ {
    return 410;
}

Next.js / Node.js

export default function handler(req, res) {
  res.status(410).send('Gone');
}

WordPress

Use a plugin like "Redirection" to set up 410 responses, or add rules to your .htaccess file.

Monitoring 410 Pages

Google Search Console

Check the Coverage report for 410 errors. These should decrease over time as Google removes the URLs from its index.

Server Logs

Monitor your server logs for 410 responses. Ensure they are only occurring for pages you intentionally deleted.

Best Practices

1. Document your deletions — Keep a record of why pages were deleted and when
1. Check for internal links — Update or remove any internal links pointing to 410 pages
1. Monitor backlinks — If external sites link to deleted pages, reach out to request link updates
1. Use sparingly — 410 should be reserved for truly permanent deletions, not routine content changes

410 vs. 301 vs. 404: Quick Comparison

| Scenario | Best Status Code |

|----------|-----------------|

| Page moved to new URL | 301 Redirect |

| Page temporarily missing | 404 Not Found |

| Page permanently deleted | 410 Gone |

| Page deleted, similar content exists | 301 to similar page |