Redirect 404 to index page?

[gearmonkey]

I'm a wordpress user and just changed my blog to redirect any 404 error to the index page. Is this recommended for SEO?

[gtk29]

I think you should show a custom 404 page and use javascript to redirect it to any other page after 10 seconds. Immediately redirecting a visitor to index page will only make that person angry.

[xylement]

I'm not sure if this is recommended or not but I just did that with my site as well because i migrated from blogger to wordpress... any pros to explain or advice about this?

[yukon]

Originally Posted by gearmonkey

I'm a wordpress user and just changed my blog to redirect any 404 error to the index page. Is this recommended for SEO?

Yes, I recommend redirecting the 404 to the Index page. I do this on all my WP sites.

The reasons I redirect:

1) Humans - visit a broken url & land on a 404 page, they gain nothing looking at a page with zero content. The Index page always has content.

2) Backlinks - as long as the root domain is intact you'll still get credit for every single backlink on the net.

I havn't seen anything negative as far as ranking in the SERPs.

[paulgl]

I'd rather do a custom 404. You want visitors to know
why they were taken to page one. If not, then they
could be in a loop looking for something that's not there.

Better to tell them that page is no longer here, and say here
are some links on the site that may be close to what they
are looking for.

If you insist on a forward, then do it as a delay. Something like
in 10 seconds this page will forward to domain.com, or click
here now.

Either way, your visitor needs to know why they got zapped
back to the home page.

Every site on the net needs some type of a custom 404 page.
If you don't have one, you are missing out on some visitors.
404 errors are common.

Paul

[Johnletton]

Originally Posted by paulgl

I'd rather do a custom 404. You want visitors to know
why they were taken to page one. If not, then they
could be in a loop looking for something that's not there.

Better to tell them that page is no longer here, and say here
are some links on the site that may be close to what they
are looking for.

If you insist on a forward, then do it as a delay. Something like
in 10 seconds this page will forward to domain.com, or click
here now.

Either way, your visitor needs to know why they got zapped
back to the home page.

Every site on the net needs some type of a custom 404 page.
If you don't have one, you are missing out on some visitors.
404 errors are common.

Paul

I think you replied very maturely and logically this is the good way and user will attract towards your redirect.

[salmanbaig]

The 404 page can be arranged in a way that it provides links to all the articles.. I prefer using a 404 page !!

[StoneWilson]

I didn't redirect, I add a customer friendly sitemap on 404 page.