What are pages with 4XX status?
Pages with 4XX status codes are website pages that couldn't be found or accessed when you tried to visit them. These errors usually occur when a page is deleted or moved, or the URL is mistyped. When you encounter a 4XX error, it means the page you're looking for is not available at that particular address. It's like searching for a book in a library but finding out that the book is missing from the shelf. Instead, you'll see a message indicating the page is "not found" or "unavailable."
Can pages with 4XX status on a website negatively impact a website's SEO score?
Yes, pages with 4XX status codes can negatively impact a website's SEO score. When search engines like Google visit a website and encounter these errors, it indicates that some pages are not working correctly or are missing. This can lead to a poor user experience, as visitors may not find the information they were looking for. Additionally, search engines may lower the website's ranking because they prefer to show reliable and relevant pages to users. It's like having broken links in a book index, making it harder for people to navigate and find the content they need, which can affect how the book is perceived and searched for by readers.
How to fix pages with a 4XX status code?
- If you get a "404 Not Found" error and the content still exists, fix the broken URL or create a 301 redirect to the correct page. If the content is gone, redirect to the most relevant page.
- For a "403 Forbidden" error, update permissions to allow access to the page.
- If you encounter a "400 Bad Request" error, double-check the URL for correctness.
- If you see a "401 Unauthorised" error, it means the page requires a login. To allow public access, remove the authentication process. If you want to keep it private, you can block search engine crawlers using the robots.txt file.