Have you ever used Google Search Console? You may have seen the concept of soft 404 errors in this case. Such errors can have a negative effect on your website’s SEO and rankings without you noticing it. This article will cover what soft 404 problems are, what causes them and how to fix them — even for an 8th grader.
What Are Soft 404 Errors?
The concept of a soft 404 refers to cases where a web page indicates that everything is fine (it returns status 200), although, in fact, the page contains no content or displays a message like “not found” or “empty”. In other words, it is a disguised 404 – the page looks like broken for Google in spite of its actual working condition.
Example:
You visit a store to buy a book and see only an empty shelf there where the book should be, while the storekeeper assures you that you can find it on this very spot. This is how Google perceives a page with the soft 404 error.
Relevance:
- Google may decide not to index this kind of pages, lowering your site ranking.
- Your site crawl budget will be wasted (Googlebot can spend it crawling unnecessary pages).
- The users who click on the page with a soft 404 error tend to leave the site.
- Soft 404s may negatively influence the website authority since Google will see multiple “empty” pages on the website.
Common Causes of Soft 404 Issues
Knowing why soft 404 errors happen will help you fix them faster. These include the following:
- Thinned Pages – Webpages with minimal content or none at all.
- Deleted Pages – When a page is deleted, but the server responds with “200 OK” instead of 404.
- Redirecting to the Wrong Page – Pages that should have been redirected to the correct 404 page are instead redirected somewhere else.
- Technical Errors – Misconfiguration on the server or in the CMS that results in blank pages.
- Blocked Resources – Google cannot access images, stylesheets or JavaScript because of robot.txt or no index tags and thus sees a blank page, resulting in soft 404 errors.
Example of Soft 404:
When a blog article is deleted but its URL still works and says “Article not found” without any content.
How to Identify Soft 404 Errors in Google Search Console
It is very simple to detect the soft 404 problems using Google Search Console.
- Enter Google Search Console – Coverage Report/pages.
- Find the tab named Errors – choose Soft 404.
- By clicking on each URL, it can be determined which pages Google considers to be “soft 404”.
- Verify manually the content of the page because Google might indicate some pages as “soft 404” even though they seem fine.
How to Fix Soft 404 Errors
Here are practical ways to solve soft 404 errors:
1. Return the Correct Status Code
In case the page has been deleted, ensure that your server serves a 404 Not Found or 410 Gone status code.
Tip: Serve a 410 Gone status code if the page has been permanently deleted since Google will likely remove it faster than when you serve a 404 Not Found status code.
2. Improve Thin Content Pages
Improve pages with scarce content with useful content like:
- Explanatory text for the topic
- Pictures, videos, or diagrams
- Links to relevant pages internally
Example:
A page with a product name on it could be improved with a description of the product, pictures, video, and FAQ.
TIP: Even a small explanation about why the page exists will save you from soft 404.
3. Proper Redirects
When the page gets deleted, but there is a similar page available, then you should make a 301 redirect instead of directing the users to the homepage.
Example:
- Old blog: /seo-tips-2020
- New blog: /seo-tips-2025
You should redirect the URL from the old one to the new one.
Note: You should not use redirects for all the deleted pages to the homepage because it can give rise to soft 404 errors.
4. Customise Your 404 Page
A 404 page that is both helpful and friendly ensures that the visitors remain engaged despite the missing page. The page should have:
- Search box
- Links to most viewed pages
- Message indicating the page is not available
Important: Although a helpful 404 page cannot solve the problem of soft 404, it definitely enhances the user experience.
Tips to Prevent Soft 404 Issues
- Perform periodic audits of your site via Google Search Console.
- Do not delete pages without appropriate redirects.
- Make sure your CMS properly deals with missing pages.
- Provide fresh and relevant content.
- Use server logs to find out which URLs generate low content/empty responses and can be considered spammy by Google.
Conclusion
Correcting soft 404 problems can be an essential part of technical SEO which will definitely benefit your website. Once you know how to spot soft 404 problems, test them using Google Search Console and implement fixes such as sending proper status codes, improving content, or implementing correct redirects, you will ensure that your website is healthy and Google-friendly.
Do not allow unseen SEO problems to affect your website’s potential. Monitor your Google Search Console, correct any existing soft 404 problems and keep your website healthy for both users and search engines. Need help with that? Contact us and we will guide you through fixing all your SEO problems!
