{"id":8487,"date":"2023-07-21T09:22:05","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T09:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/?p=8487"},"modified":"2023-07-21T09:22:06","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T09:22:06","slug":"301-redirect-or-404-error-pages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afreeurl.com\/?p=8487","title":{"rendered":"301 Redirect or “404 Error Pages”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Gary Illyes of Google answered a question about which is less worse to use, millions of 404 error pages or 301 redirects. Gary’s answer cleared the air about how to think about each status code.<\/p>\n

The question was simple:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Which is less harmful: having millions of 404 error pages or millions of 301 redirects, where the product sold pages redirect to the main listing page?”<\/p>\n

The answer was also simple, although it could have gone into more detail.<\/p>\n

Here is Gary’s response:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“404 status codes are completely harmless, and so is 301.<\/p>\n

You have to decide what’s best for your scenario and fly with it.”<\/p>\n

Status codes<\/h2>\n

Gary uses the phrase “status codes” to refer to 404 and 301 responses.<\/p>\n

Both are responses from a server to a request from a web page (which was made by a browser or bot).<\/p>\n

When a browser goes to a web page, what it does is request a web page from the server.<\/p>\n

The server responds to the browser’s request with a message that communicates the status of that request.<\/p>\n

That’s why Gary called the 301 and 404 status codes.<\/p>\n

Since they are responses (from the server to the browser), they are also called response codes.<\/p>\n

But technically, they are status codes, because the creators of the HTML standards, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), they are referred to as status codes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are five types of status codes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“1xx (Informative): Request received, processing continued<\/p>\n

2xx (Success): The request was received, understood and successfully accepted<\/p>\n

3xx (Redirect): More action is required to complete the request<\/p>\n

4xx (Client Error): The request contains incorrect syntax or cannot be fulfilled<\/p>\n

5xx (Server Error): The server was unable to fulfill an apparently valid request”<\/p>\n

Error Pages\/Error Codes<\/h2>\n

The question asked was about “404 error pages”, probably because it’s commonly called 404 errors.<\/p>\n

But the pages themselves are not wrong.<\/p>\n

What is happening is that the request for missing web pages “cannot be fulfilled”.<\/p>\n

There is an error where the page page is not found. But the server just responds with a status code, 404 (page not found).<\/p>\n

The common use of the word “error” to refer to 404 has led to the mistaken belief that 404 responses are bad.<\/p>\n

But this is wrong, the 404 response is neither bad nor good, it is just a response that the page is not found.<\/p>\n

According to the W3C:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Status code 404 (Not Found) indicates that the origin server either did not find a current representation for the target resource or is unwilling to disclose that it exists.<\/p>\n

A 404 status code does not indicate whether this lack of representation is temporary or permanent;\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Another trusted and authoritative HTML resource, Mozilla Web Docs, defines the 404 status code<\/a> like this:<\/p>\n

“The HTTP 404 Not Found response status code indicates that the server cannot find the requested resource.<\/p>\n

\u2026 A 404 status code only indicates that the resource is missing: not whether the absence is temporary or permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of this explains why Gary Illyes said that “404 status codes are completely harmless…”<\/p>\n

How to choose between 301 and 404 response code<\/h2>\n

Gary also said that the individual publisher should choose what works best for them.<\/p>\n

Web pages disappear for various reasons.<\/p>\n

If the page is missing because two sites have merged, a publisher can 301 redirect old or outdated pages to new pages that have a similar theme.<\/p>\n

But if the pages don’t have a similar topic match, those pages can become 404 responses, saying the page is absent.<\/p>\n

A 410 status code can be used to indicate that the removal is permanent, but Google basically treats 404 and 410 pretty much the same.<\/p>\n

In the end, when in doubt, think about what works best for the user.<\/p>\n

For example, if you’re merging a site that’s about topic K with a larger site that’s about topic A – Z, it might make sense to individually redirect to pages on the larger site that are about topic D.<\/p>\n

All other pages that do not have a one-to-one match can be redirected to the main category page of topic D on the larger site.<\/p>\n

Or as Gary said, “You have to decide what’s best for your scenario…”<\/p>\n

Watch the Google SEO office hours at the 1:09 minute mark:<\/strong><\/p>\n