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Redirect 404 to index page?

by gearmonkey
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I'm a wordpress user and just changed my blog to redirect any 404 error to the index page. Is this recommended for SEO?
#404 #index #page #redirect
  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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?
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by gearmonkey View Post

    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.
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    • Profile picture of the author 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
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      • Profile picture of the author Johnletton
        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        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.
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  • Profile picture of the author salmanbaig
    The 404 page can be arranged in a way that it provides links to all the articles.. I prefer using a 404 page !!
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  • Profile picture of the author StoneWilson
    I didn't redirect, I add a customer friendly sitemap on 404 page.
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