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Too many 404 requests, Does it affect on SERP ?

by Hafeez
6 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi Guys,

I have my wordpress website at No.1 SERP rank at google. Now I have deleted 2 subdirectories and around 200 pages of subdirectories are indexed by google and I am receiving 404 requests.

First I think to redirect the non-existing urls to home page using 301 redirect 301 like this:
www.mydomain.com/demo/filename.php?id=12345
to
www.mydomain.com

But i think 301 redirect is not for this purpose since pages are "not moved" pages are deleted. Now for deleted pages i can use error 404 document.

I think its better to get an advise from experts that what should i do in this case? I dont want to decrease my SERP rank at google.

Any advise please?
#404 #affect #requests #serp
  • Profile picture of the author Hemanth Malli
    getting 404 error is negative to the sites Google SERP might decrease your ranking and your page is redirecting to your home page then its a serious problem and u need to remove all those inner pages.
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    Inverselogix
    CEO
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  • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
    If those pages you erased were bringing traffic by all means make a 301
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  • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
    Even if the pages were deleted, you can still 301 them to your homepage. 404 errors won't decrease your rankings but they might if they get to a certain point. That said, I've never heard of any instance of 404 errors taking a toll on a site's rankings.
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    ONE HOUR INDEXING - STOP WASTING MONEY ON LINKS GOOGLE NEVER FINDS
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    The first mistake is having a 404 page.

    If you have a 404 page that pretty much means your ok with wasting traffic & links.

    Either 301 traffic/links to a targeted page or at the very least setup a catchall for a 301 redirect back to a single page on the domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robbie Richards
    Hey Hafeez,

    I've never seen the number of 404 pages have a direct negative impact on a site's rankings. The main thing to consider here is user experience. You never want traffic going to a 404. That said, add a 301 back to a relevant page on your site as stated in some of the comments above.

    404s can have an indirect impact on rankings. For example, if a user hits a 404 page, they are more likely to bounce away from your site. This behavioral factor, if extreme can signal to Google your site is delivering a poor (irrelevant) experience for a given keyword.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hafeez
    Thanks to all of you for your replies and concern. Overall opinion is to use 301 and i did it. Thanks again
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