a ton of 404's; how badly do they hurt and how to fix?

tibipuiu · 09-16-2011, 02:37 PM

One and a half years ago, I changed the permalink structure of my blog completely from /%postname to /%category/%postname without placing any kind of 301s in place. This is basically one of the biggest mistakes a SEO can make, and I fell right for it.

Anyway at the time, the blog had something like 1,500 indexed pages, it now has 15,000 (in the meantime I indexed my tags too...some might say its bad, I've seen better results with them on).

Six months after the incident, I wised-up and implemented a wodpress plugin called "Change Permalink Helper" which automatically 301s your changed permalink posts. It was very late, but better than never.

Thing is when I check my google webmaster crawl errors, Google still displays more than 400+ errors as 404 pages, which are actually 301 redirects. Google still somehow seems them as redirects. If you search for these so called 404 pages on google, you'll only find the new updated permalink alternatives, which leads me to think that the google webmaster crawl error system is flawed. Or is it ?

Which begs the question: it's been more than a year and a half and still get this crappy 404 errors - why? The links are now 301ed, they've been so for a long time, doesn't this make it ok?

SimpleSEOTips · 09-16-2011, 10:44 PM

I have found Google Webmaster Tools to be both a fantastic insight into website errors but also a very frustrating source of red herrings. It is important to know that just cause you change something on your site (i.e. a redirect to fix a 404) it does not mean that Google will update this error within the Webmaster Tools account for some time (months at a time I have seen in the past).

Google still needs to revisit the 404 page to identify that there is a fix in place and then feed this information back to the webmaster tools account. If you manually test a 404 and see it redirects correctly then I would sit tight and be patient while Google catches up with the work you have done.

tibipuiu · 09-17-2011, 12:24 AM

Hopefully, yes. But it's been such a long time now, I'd wish Google would just fix these notices. Thanks, SimpleSEOtips

09-16-2011, 02:37 PM	#1
tibipuiu Social Media Connoisseur War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Bucharest, Romania Posts: 46 Thanks: 25 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	a ton of 404's; how badly do they hurt and how to fix? One and a half years ago, I changed the permalink structure of my blog completely from /%postname to /%category/%postname without placing any kind of 301s in place. This is basically one of the biggest mistakes a SEO can make, and I fell right for it. Anyway at the time, the blog had something like 1,500 indexed pages, it now has 15,000 (in the meantime I indexed my tags too...some might say its bad, I've seen better results with them on). Six months after the incident, I wised-up and implemented a wodpress plugin called "Change Permalink Helper" which automatically 301s your changed permalink posts. It was very late, but better than never. Thing is when I check my google webmaster crawl errors, Google still displays more than 400+ errors as 404 pages, which are actually 301 redirects. Google still somehow seems them as redirects. If you search for these so called 404 pages on google, you'll only find the new updated permalink alternatives, which leads me to think that the google webmaster crawl error system is flawed. Or is it ? Which begs the question: it's been more than a year and a half and still get this crappy 404 errors - why? The links are now 301ed, they've been so for a long time, doesn't this make it ok?
	I'm an internet marketer and entrepreneur. I work down at ZME Media. On twitter? Follow me!

09-16-2011, 10:44 PM	#2
SimpleSEOTips HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 147 Thanks: 17 Thanked 21 Times in 21 Posts Social Networking	Re: a ton of 404's; how badly do they hurt and how to fix? I have found Google Webmaster Tools to be both a fantastic insight into website errors but also a very frustrating source of red herrings. It is important to know that just cause you change something on your site (i.e. a redirect to fix a 404) it does not mean that Google will update this error within the Webmaster Tools account for some time (months at a time I have seen in the past). Google still needs to revisit the 404 page to identify that there is a fix in place and then feed this information back to the webmaster tools account. If you manually test a 404 and see it redirects correctly then I would sit tight and be patient while Google catches up with the work you have done.

09-17-2011, 12:24 AM	#3
tibipuiu Social Media Connoisseur War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Bucharest, Romania Posts: 46 Thanks: 25 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: a ton of 404's; how badly do they hurt and how to fix? Hopefully, yes. But it's been such a long time now, I'd wish Google would just fix these notices. Thanks, SimpleSEOtips
	I'm an internet marketer and entrepreneur. I work down at ZME Media. On twitter? Follow me!