John Mueller from Google answered an interesting question about what actually happens after clicking the “validate a fix” link in Search Console if the 404 status still exists. John Mueller explained what’s going on with this “validate a fix” feature.
What causes a 404 status code and how should it be dealt with?
When a browser requests a web page, the server provides a response and a code relating the status of the request. If the request for a web page is successful, the server responds with a status code of 200 (OK). If the request was unsuccessful because the requested web page does not exist at the requested URL, the server will respond with a 404 (Not Found) status code.
How does Google Search Console (GSC) handle validation of fixed 404 errors?
Dixon Jones, CEO of Inlinks asked a question about what it means to validate a 404 error response in the search console when the 404 still exists.
Hi @JohnMu – Boring question… If a 404 means a page doesn’t exist (and shouldn’t exist), what does GSC do when it tries to “validate a solution”?
It will still be a 404… so what makes it out of the 404 list? Removal of links to this page? Or should we start creating 301s? I guess not…”
Google’s John Mueller explained the purpose of 404 search console validation:
“It’s more if you’ve accidentally done something and fixed it. Obviously, you don’t need to fix the 404s you want the 404s to be. Also, it’s more of a follow-up for you (“I fixed this, say- me when you see it fixed too”).
It’s not unusual for publishers to accidentally remove web pages or disappear due to technical issues. For the convenience of publishers (and searchers), Google continues to remember the location of missing web pages so that it can start showing them in search results again once the page returns, as John Mueller says, “…if you accidentally 404 something and fixed it.”
What causes a 404 status code and how should it be interpreted?
The 404 response is called an error because the web page requested from the URL does not exist, and so the request is an error, not what Google found and the web page error that ‘must solve.
RFC-Editor.org lists the official Internet standards for HTML, and the official description of the 404 status code doesn’t even mention the word error.
This is the official standard for status code 404:
“15.5.5. 404 Not found
Status code 404 (Not Found) indicates that the origin server has not found a current representation for the target resource or is unwilling to disclose its existence.
A 404 status code does not indicate whether this lack of representation is temporary or permanent; status code 410 (Gone) is preferable to 404 if the origin server knows, presumably through some configurable means, that the condition is likely to be permanent.”
Technically, if the 404 status is known to be permanent and the web page never returns, the correct response is to display a 410 status code.
But Google treats 404 and 410 response codes almost equally. The 410 response makes the web page leave Google’s search index a little faster. But the end result is the same.
Is it necessary to fix all 404 errors, including external links?
Jeannie Hill entered the discussion to ask about incoming links from other sites to the wrong URL.
she he tweeted:
“Most of the 404s we don’t want come from external sources that don’t get the input URL right. Even Research Gate. Trying to reply is usually delayed or unresponsive. Worth pursuing?”
John Mueller answered:
“Probably not. (Also “validate correction” is about checking your site URL, not the link URL, so it wouldn’t apply anyway.)”
Jeannie continued:
“Thanks @JohnMu for the reply.
It’s helpful to identify these incoming 404s while “Validate Correction” helps resolve internal linking issues.
We’ve fixed a few incoming 404s that we thought were more important. However, I question the value gained for the effort it requires.”
John responded with a comment about the value of taking the time to proofread inbound links:
“I’d look at traffic and not SEO-Juice. Too many people getting lost when they want to visit you? Sounds like something worth fixing if you can.”
The role of “validate correctness” in handling internal and external 404 errors
John Mueller made it clear that the 404 search console report is meant to be a way of communicating that Google found missing pages. It’s up to the editors to decide what to do with it.
When it comes to external links to URLs that don’t exist, Mueller suggests that they aren’t worth fixing, but I think most SEOs would disagree if the link is from a legitimate website. It makes sense to try to fix these incoming links by creating a 301 redirect from the malformed URL to the correct URL.
Featured image by Shutterstock/tynyuk
[ad_2]
Source link
