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Permanent redirects stacked one after another.
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A temporary redirect on a page that moved for good.
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Technical SEOUpdated

404 Not Found

In short

404 Not Found is an HTTP response that says the requested URL has no current resource, so users and crawlers cannot retrieve the expected page.

What 404 Not Found means

A real 404 is a response status, not simply a page whose design says “not found.” It is appropriate when no relevant replacement exists or when a URL was never valid. It differs from a redirect, which sends a visitor to a specific successor, and from a soft 404, where a server returns success while showing an error-like page.

The diagram shows the main inputs, checks and decision path for 404 Not Found.

Decision rule and evidence

Map a retired URL only when a close, useful replacement exists. Otherwise return a genuine 404 and remove internal links to it. Do not route every missing URL to the home page: that makes the original request harder to resolve and can create soft-404 signals.

Practical workflow

bash
curl --head https://example.test/retired-page
# Expect: HTTP/... 404, not 200 and not a blanket home-page redirect.

For a retired product or article, compare the old title, purpose and inbound links with the proposed destination. A redirect is defensible only when the destination answers substantially the same need; otherwise preserve the 404 and repair the internal link that created the dead path.

  1. Export internal links and response codes from a bounded crawl.
  2. Separate typo URLs, deleted content, and URLs with a clear successor.
  3. Restore an accidentally removed page; otherwise add one direct redirect only for the successor case.
  4. Make the custom 404 page helpful while keeping the HTTP response at 404.
  5. Re-crawl the former source pages and sample the response in a browser and an HTTP client.

Verification and common mistakes

Check the requested URL itself, not only the visual error template. Record the final status, the referring internal URL, and whether a replacement truly serves the same intent.

A polished error page that returns 200 is still a soft 404. Another common mistake is treating a raw count of 404s as a sitewide quality score without first separating intentionally retired URLs from broken internal navigation.

FAQ

No. Redirect only to a relevant replacement. Otherwise return a genuine 404 and offer useful navigation.
No. They are appropriate for invalid or retired URLs. Broken internal links to those URLs are a separate issue to repair.