Should I use 301 redirection to reduce soft 404 errors

by 11 replies
12
I think, we should not use 301 permanent redirection to solve soft 404 errors. Please any one suggest me in this issue.
What are the possible methods to get 0 soft 404 errors in google webmasters tools.
#search engine optimization #301 #404 #errors #redirection #reduce #soft
  • You're right. Returning an error page without a proper HTTP header is a bad idea, and you should not cover for that with redirections. If your server or CMS is that broken fixing it would be the right way to go.

    It's totally impossible to say how you should proceed because there's so much popular HTTP server software and CMSes around.
  • Banned
    This thread doesn't even make sense.

    The whole point of a 301 is to prevent a 404.
    • [2] replies
    • Well, sometimes returning a 404 is a good thing.

      I have a feeling that OP doesn't really understand what Google means by "soft 404 error".

      Maybe somebody has been creating "error pages" for content that was deleted, or something equally weird.
    • You can't prevent 404 errors. Period. End of story.

      Errors are errors. A soft 404 error, I presume, would be to
      have a custom 404 error page, and NOT zap them to
      some unexpected page without an explanation.

      But you can't prevent 404 errors.

      If you mean for pages that should be there, well, that's your
      problem.

      If you get a 404 error, a 404 error is logged. Even if you
      have a custom 404 page, or redirect(not 301) your 404 page.

      Doing a 301 for every page that gets a 404 error would be silly.
      You would be caught in a never ending trap.

      Paul
      • [1] reply
  • 301 Redirect is lifesaver for you if you post moves from one url to other one domain to other. You retain upto 90% link juice of that page. 404 does not gives you any juice
  • There is not such exact method for this problem dear.
  • I could see a good use for 404s. If someone was typing in a url directly, and mis-typed it, I would not want them just redirected to a home page. I would want them to see an error page acknowledging the error.

    Just doing a auto redirect to a home page or any other page could be confusing to them. Imagine they hit the home page. They are probably thinking, "How did I end up here?" So they start typing the URL again. This time their browser autofills as they are typing with the same URL they just entered. They do not notice the error and just select the autofill. Again, redirected to the home page. Now they are really confused with what is going on.

    Situation like that, I think 404s are a good thing.
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